I'm sorry, but this has nothing to do with Diablo 1 and 2. The franchise has never tried to be clever, intelligent or exceptionally different, but this is just too bland. The skills system is too simple, the attributes aren't there at all and everything just depends on your equip, not your actual playing. And the auction house just ruins the whole experience. More than a great video game,I'm sorry, but this has nothing to do with Diablo 1 and 2. The franchise has never tried to be clever, intelligent or exceptionally different, but this is just too bland. The skills system is too simple, the attributes aren't there at all and everything just depends on your equip, not your actual playing. And the auction house just ruins the whole experience. More than a great video game, it feels like a money maker, and that's not the way I want to see the gaming industry go.…Expand

If this was a stand alone game and not a sequel to Diablo 2 it would have got a better score from me. The problem is that it is a sequel to Diablo 2 and I dislike the direction they took in designing this game. On it's surface this might seem like a good sequel but if you dig a little under the surface you find that all the things about Diablo 2 that kept you coming back to play hundredsIf this was a stand alone game and not a sequel to Diablo 2 it would have got a better score from me. The problem is that it is a sequel to Diablo 2 and I dislike the direction they took in designing this game. On it's surface this might seem like a good sequel but if you dig a little under the surface you find that all the things about Diablo 2 that kept you coming back to play hundreds of hours aren't there.

The loot and gear system is over simplified and annoying. Combine that with the auction house and you get an annoying combination. In Diablo 2 I found my self eager to take down those tough bosses on nightmare and hell mode too see what loot would drop from them. In Diablo 3 I hate fighting bosses as it's a mostly rewardless experience that can be quite costly. After your first play through on normal bosses won't have good loot drops. You get most of your loot from killing randomly spawn champion or unique enemies. This might be okay if the loot I got was worth a damn but it too is flawed. In Diablo 3 you only care about two stats. Your primary stat (intelligence for wizard or strength for barbarian, ect...) which determines how much damage you do and vitality which determines how much health you have. You can focus of the other ones but it's mostly a waste time as the gains aren't worth it. This system makes loot annoying. Here's how my Diablo 3 loot experience usually goes. Go through an act hunting down the champion monsters. Get a rare drop every now and then and the go and identify the drop. At this point a lot of the time the loot doesn't have a good primary stat on it and becomes trash to sell at a vendor. When it does 80%+ of the time it's not your stat and you can at best sell it on the auction house. Even then it's usually still bad as the other stats or damage of the weapon can still be bad. This means that you will have to go to the auction house to get most of your gear in this game and I can't stress enough how unfulfilling it is to get gear that way. In Diablo 2 I felt like I was on a quest to get to the end of the dungeon which probably had epic loot which would spill forth upon slaying the difficult boss at end. In Diablo 3 I feel like I'm working a steady job to make money so I can afford my gear upgrades which I purchase from a store. Figuring out which gear to use isn't even that fun. It boils down to those two stats I mentioned earlier and in the case of a weapon you check it's dps.

The actual click fest murdering monsters as you work your way through the game is good for the genre but that alone is not what makes games in this genre fun in the first place. The skill system and combat are both good but not nearly enough to save this game. The story is good and the cg is top notch for the cut scenes are top notch but it's not enough to save this game. I can't recommend you buy this game if you are looking for a good sequel to Diablo 2. The content I see is good enough for one play through on normal at best. Also as a side note, where is our promised pvp? My bet is that they hid it in the coming expansion which you will have to pay for.

Goods
Combat is fun
Graphics are shiny(the game looks nice)
Cinematics are top notch

Bad
Loot/Gear systems is broken and not fun
Auction house It's a break in my gameplay, not fun and makes the game feel like a job
Missing promised features Where's my pvp?
Drop system further makes loot not fun Bosses don't drop loot after normal

Conclusion: If you liked Diablo 2 and are looking for more of the same, don't play this game. Titan Quest or Torchlight 2 are much better options for lovers of Diablo 2 than this game.…Expand

Not worth $60. Serious latency issues almost a month after release, disconnects, hacks, etc. The game has no real customization besides gear, so it gets boring after one completion. I don't know how some people can still be playing - I'd rather be at work than sit down to play this game again. Blizzard dropped the ball on this one. It's truly a shame. I can't believe people waited 12Not worth $60. Serious latency issues almost a month after release, disconnects, hacks, etc. The game has no real customization besides gear, so it gets boring after one completion. I don't know how some people can still be playing - I'd rather be at work than sit down to play this game again. Blizzard dropped the ball on this one. It's truly a shame. I can't believe people waited 12 years for this.......no wonder there is so much angst over this game.…Expand

Bugs and DRM aside, after getting to the game I have to say I found it quite difficult to get into. The RPG elements like manipulating your characters specs were extremely limiting and the story comes off like a child's nursery rhyme. The gameplay starts to get extremely repetitive and the only thing I enjoyed was boss fights. Unfortunately they do not dominate the game, killing trash mobsBugs and DRM aside, after getting to the game I have to say I found it quite difficult to get into. The RPG elements like manipulating your characters specs were extremely limiting and the story comes off like a child's nursery rhyme. The gameplay starts to get extremely repetitive and the only thing I enjoyed was boss fights. Unfortunately they do not dominate the game, killing trash mobs does. It's a well made polished game but unfortunately the game falls short of being a top scorer.…Expand

The game is fun in the beginning. Act I is actually quite enjoyable. Act II less so. Act III with the non-stop action of the battle for the keep is actually quite fun. Act IV loses steam and the last fight with Diablo is anti-climatic. The end feels forced.

I call it the end because if you play into Inferno you are asking to be displeased. I played 3 classes to 60 and the gameplayThe game is fun in the beginning. Act I is actually quite enjoyable. Act II less so. Act III with the non-stop action of the battle for the keep is actually quite fun. Act IV loses steam and the last fight with Diablo is anti-climatic. The end feels forced.

I call it the end because if you play into Inferno you are asking to be displeased. I played 3 classes to 60 and the gameplay beyond 60 in Inferno is brutal. Brutal is ok though except here it is brutal AND boring. Because you can't advance in any reasonable amount of time unless you shell out 100's for better gear via the Auction House. If you think you will be getting the gear in the game haha you are very funny. You wont. I farmed for weeks and drops of upgrade gear, things that will actually advance you to finishing Inferno, just do not drop frequently enough. You'd have to put in a 40 hour work week to have a middling chance without buying gear.

That isn't my idea of fun.

That said if you buy the game once the price drops about $20 bucks and play it through to 60 and quit you have a fairly fun game. People giving it a 0 or 1 score I think are reacting viscerally to some of the policies Blizzard has put in place. The game itself is decent-ish. It is no Diablo II or Dragon Ages or a lot of other better games. But it shouldn't be punished for what it isn't. It should be rated for what it is. What it is, is a decently entertaining game that should be put down after reaching level 60, because there literally is no game after level 60. There is just obsessive compulsive repetitiveness.…Expand

It pains me to give Diablo 3 a rating of five considering how much I love the Diablo franchise. I wanted this game to keep me interested for years like Diablo 2 did, and unfortunately it just doesn't have the staying power of its predecessor. Overall, I'm content that I got over 100 hours of enjoyment out of a $100 game (I splurged for the Collector's Edition), yet that feeling ofIt pains me to give Diablo 3 a rating of five considering how much I love the Diablo franchise. I wanted this game to keep me interested for years like Diablo 2 did, and unfortunately it just doesn't have the staying power of its predecessor. Overall, I'm content that I got over 100 hours of enjoyment out of a $100 game (I splurged for the Collector's Edition), yet that feeling of disappointment in knowing that after 3 months I've already lost interest definitely lingers. Perhaps future content updates will pull me back in; only time will tell on that.…Expand

This game isn't as great as the previous. The actual gameplay is OK, a standard dungeon-crawling, hack and slash system. However, Blizzard butchered the skill system, but that isn't a huge deal its still ok. The worst part is the constant internet required, which makes NO sense for a primarily single player game, there is no offline mode. This is weird because Starcraft II has offline modeThis game isn't as great as the previous. The actual gameplay is OK, a standard dungeon-crawling, hack and slash system. However, Blizzard butchered the skill system, but that isn't a huge deal its still ok. The worst part is the constant internet required, which makes NO sense for a primarily single player game, there is no offline mode. This is weird because Starcraft II has offline mode against bots, and is primarily multiplayer. ALSO, the real money auction house basically throws the whole inferno grinding in the drain, whoever pays the most money wins at this. The story is also trash.…Expand

While the end game has gotten much better with the recent patches, the glaring issues that drag it down are more than numerous. No offline play, server downtime for maintenance, lag, and the inability to build a character truly as your own make this a disappointment compared to Diablo II. Torchlight II offers more for your money and a better gameplay experience.

I typically write very long and detailed reviews about games and what parts of them i like and don't like.For this game I will not do that, and instead get right to the point: This game is broken. If I had a game that crashed so often I couldnt play it, that would be this game. The gameplay is terrific, and I love everything about it, but its just broken. Server issues or not, I am INDEEDI typically write very long and detailed reviews about games and what parts of them i like and don't like.For this game I will not do that, and instead get right to the point: This game is broken. If I had a game that crashed so often I couldnt play it, that would be this game. The gameplay is terrific, and I love everything about it, but its just broken. Server issues or not, I am INDEED ENTITLED to a functional product whenever I purchase it from the store. I will want to play with this product at whatever time I please, even if it is during the "prime time" that also has the worst server issues. What I expect from a commercial product is consistent across all things and so I choose to publicly denounce this game for its poor release but perhaps give it another chance once it is finally completed. I will do what I would do with a broken car and return it and seek my money back.…Expand

I have 60 hours + in and I can honestly say I'm not digging the game anymore. Once the novelty wears off, which it does fairly quickly after the first playthrough, I was left with the question of why I am even playing anymore. @ max level there is no more progression for your character outside of acquiring gear which is best obtained from the auction house. Blizz even admitted that theyI have 60 hours + in and I can honestly say I'm not digging the game anymore. Once the novelty wears off, which it does fairly quickly after the first playthrough, I was left with the question of why I am even playing anymore. @ max level there is no more progression for your character outside of acquiring gear which is best obtained from the auction house. Blizz even admitted that they balanced item drops with the AH in mind; Blizz also takes a cut from the real money AH when it goes live. There is no point in having more than one of each class because skills aren't built up and you don't place stat points, everyone has the exact same everything. Even when picking stats on gear it's pretty much a no-brainer. I've paid far less for games that I've enjoyed much more, but the first few playthroughs especially if you play hardcore can be quite entertaining. Initially I would have given this a 7 but because of the lack of offline single player (why do I have to be online and lagging all the time on my single player character?) and the persistent problems of servers being constantly down at inconvenient times for over two weeks now, I am giving it a 6. I don't think this game is worth 60 bucks at all, maybe 20. Woe to those who are expecting a new and improved Diablo 2; this isn't it.…Expand

Not a bad game but not a good game. 40 hrs of enjoyment for $60. That is $1.50 an hour, which is not worth it for a video game. Very little innovation to the genre. No depth in character creation, since the character can be instantly changed to whatever skill set you want. Item system is weak by design, since items your level almost never drop. Its just a standard hack and slash game withNot a bad game but not a good game. 40 hrs of enjoyment for $60. That is $1.50 an hour, which is not worth it for a video game. Very little innovation to the genre. No depth in character creation, since the character can be instantly changed to whatever skill set you want. Item system is weak by design, since items your level almost never drop. Its just a standard hack and slash game with a mediocre story (especially when judging by blizzards standards). Wait for the price to drop to $30 at least, or just buy Torchlight II when it comes out, as it will probably be a all around better game for 1/3 the price.…Expand

A solid third installment of the franchise with the gameplay still enjoyable. However the major changes made by Blizzard to character development and the way you grind weapons (also introducing Auction House) stink of greedy business ideas and just trying to make as much $$$ off of a brand without actually making a great game.

Diablo 3 is ok but it is nothing compared to the past Diablo games. There are also other games like torch light 2 which are better and cheaper. Diablo 3 is just a waste of money, the only thing you will be getting is disappointment.

DRM is the biggest problem, with bad internet I was forced to stop playing. Fast forward to good internet time, a very dumbed down game where there is no skill tree and casual playing is greatly rewarded while time invested nets little to no return. There is definitely fun to be had but filling the shoes of Diablo 2 was simply too much for them. A great game as an introduction to theDRM is the biggest problem, with bad internet I was forced to stop playing. Fast forward to good internet time, a very dumbed down game where there is no skill tree and casual playing is greatly rewarded while time invested nets little to no return. There is definitely fun to be had but filling the shoes of Diablo 2 was simply too much for them. A great game as an introduction to the series/style but a step backwards as far as fans of the series are concerned.…Expand

Presentation 6Playing multiplayer is easy but only 4 players in a group? The story is really short & suck.The new skill bar is limited. Aways online play but they provided a very poor network service.Graphics 6.5
Diablo III looks only OK. The video is not very impressive as a morden game.
Sound 7
The background music is boring makes you sleep. However voices were good.
GameplayPresentation 6Playing multiplayer is easy but only 4 players in a group? The story is really short & suck.The new skill bar is limited. Aways online play but they provided a very poor network service.Graphics 6.5Diablo III looks only OK. The video is not very impressive as a morden game.Sound 7The background music is boring makes you sleep. However voices were good.Gameplay 4.5No distribute point makes everyone is the same but your weapons & armors get from your real money. Game eperience is much worsen than the Diablo1&2.Lasting Appeal 5.0You may find the game is fun when you first time playing. After few days you will find the game is frustrated as you will surely struggling in inferno difficulty. The numerous difficulties and endless loot mean you can wast your whole life and your entire money in it.

Very disappointed by the game. I bought it being sure it will be great as Diablo2 but after a while I found that game is too short, requires constant internet connection even in single player game which a game breaker for hardcore mode, and too casual in character builds. On a positive side the graphics and world details are very good. Combat dynamic is good too.

This review starts off at 10/10, and I'll explain the deductions... (I tried my best to not have spoilers of any kind)

DRM: I personally wouldn't play offline, as I want my character to progress, and to play with my friends; BUT being required to only play online just pisses me off as a consumer. Make it so single player characters that are offline can NEVER go online. Problem solved! (This review starts off at 10/10, and I'll explain the deductions... (I tried my best to not have spoilers of any kind)

DRM: I personally wouldn't play offline, as I want my character to progress, and to play with my friends; BUT being required to only play online just pisses me off as a consumer. Make it so single player characters that are offline can NEVER go online. Problem solved! ( -3 )

Connectivity: Under normal games this is not an issue. Server crashes, you get a 10 second time-out. If you die, so what repair your stuff for a marginal amount of gold and continue. I however play Hard-core. If the server craps out on my character may be permanently deleted through no fault of my own. ( -1)

Auction House: I've seen stuff available for sale in Game-gold (which is fine) I would never pay any cash for anything. I won't knock the game for that. ( No Effect )

Game-play: It is somewhat fun, you have to play with other people or it will become boring as hell in no time. The inclusion of lore, and side stories helps to add emersion, but the story is predictable, and very linear. I was expecting a better story out of this game, as they had 12 years to make it and a litany of novels written about the world to draw off of. ( +1 ) I wish this was higher like a +4 :( but no way can I rate it anything other than ( +1 )

The fact I can only customize my hero through items is a bit disappointing, but it has it's upside as well. No worries about misplacing a skill point, or a Patch coming along ruining my build, but It's all cookie cutter. It's a + and a - in my books. ( No Effect ) Graphics: The cinematic are gorgeous, but there are soo few!!! The rest are drawn graphic-novel style with not much in the way of colour. They can argue they did this for effect, but I found it disappointing, and skip them the second time through. A waste I say... The world is nicely done to a degree, there is depth along the sides of the map so it feels bigger than Diablo 2, but the trees, rocks, chests, and all objects are poorly textured, and have rather piss poor Poll- counts. The characters look their best, and I use this word reluctantly, at the log-in screen. Even here the textures are very poor, and the overall models weak. This game looks like it was released in 2004-2005. ( -2 )

Sound: Awesome! Voice acting: Really good. ( +1 ) Environment: The game is too colourful and pleasant for the story line it purports. The game is about death, sacrifice, evil, horror, terror etc. Sure have the parts colourful when this emphasises the nature of the level, but when you are in the midst of a supposed living nightmare. It doesn't fly. ( - 1 )

Interface: easy to navigate, they think of all the little things that could make life annoying and didn't commit those sins, but these are little things and spit/polish, so can't earn a lot of points. ( +1 )

Skills: Some skills are simply useless compared to others, there is very little in the description to the exact numerical effect on damage, evasion, resistance, etc. So you have to activate a skill with your stat menu open to see exactly how good or pathetic a skill is. It should be as simple as putting your mouse cursor over a skill and see (grants a +7.87% evasion at your current level... for example). (-1 )

If my math serves me right this is an aggregate of -5 to the original starting score of 10. So I rank this game a 5/10.…Expand

After playing this for a while you could be forgiven for forgetting your playing Diablo 3 (not just for its lack of graphical enhancement) and think your playing the original, in fact I'm more a fan of it than this one. The dark creepy atmosphere is gone which is the major reason I loved the original Diablo. But then once you get THRASHED by lag in single player, yes even in single playerAfter playing this for a while you could be forgiven for forgetting your playing Diablo 3 (not just for its lack of graphical enhancement) and think your playing the original, in fact I'm more a fan of it than this one. The dark creepy atmosphere is gone which is the major reason I loved the original Diablo. But then once you get THRASHED by lag in single player, yes even in single player you get reminded that those without internet connections cannot play the game because of this utterly stupid DRM that in place. I give diablo 3 a 6/10 for the simple fact It did deliver on taking on the classic parts of the originals and screwing them up mixing the original click like hell style of diablo 1 with some semi-thought out skill selection of diablo 2. however with all the diablo 3 I have played its been an utterly disappointing game, shops don't have anything worth buying, you spend thousands on crafting items at the blacksmith that you rarely find elsewhere and for the most part the fighting consists of GRRRRRRRRRRRR LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!! LEFT MOUSE BUTTON!!!…Expand

I had mixed experience during and after playing. It's not as perfect as previous Blizz games. Too expensive for 15 hours of play for finishing main plot on normal. Game play is linear without any freedom. Almost none of off main plot quest. Next difficulty levels are almost the same with boosted item stats. I don't think I'm willing to go through all the same again and again to finishI had mixed experience during and after playing. It's not as perfect as previous Blizz games. Too expensive for 15 hours of play for finishing main plot on normal. Game play is linear without any freedom. Almost none of off main plot quest. Next difficulty levels are almost the same with boosted item stats. I don't think I'm willing to go through all the same again and again to finish inferno. It's rather for no lives game without any sense for me (maybe for PvP in future). Game play is addicted for sure especially with friends but I'm not sure if it is enough for keeping players base for long. Graphics and music are quite good, wow - like style - if one likes WoW and other Blizz games this style is for him. For games being under development for so long time it is first Blizz fall down.…Expand

I wouldn't call this anything more than an average game. Story is silly and almost non-existant, graphics are actually terrible for a game released in 2012 (Not much better than WoW's graphics) and the gameplay hasn't changed the slightest since Diablo 2 (Which could be a good thing, depending on who you ask). While it is entertaining for maybe 30 minutes at a time, it just plain doesn'tI wouldn't call this anything more than an average game. Story is silly and almost non-existant, graphics are actually terrible for a game released in 2012 (Not much better than WoW's graphics) and the gameplay hasn't changed the slightest since Diablo 2 (Which could be a good thing, depending on who you ask). While it is entertaining for maybe 30 minutes at a time, it just plain doesn't cut it. This game feels nothing like a game should for this decade.…Expand

Diablo III is a fairly satisfactory dungeon romp, in the manner of its predecessors. If making enemies explode and effortlessly plowing through a horde of the undead satisfies you, this may be just the thing. Its environments are attractive, even if its story, voice acting and writing are generally of very poor quality (as this is not the game

Well inplementing a Paragon System or a Monster Power System doesnt cure the Games horrendous, unfair and unsatisfying Design. Online Requirement... Well what if im on a Vacation and i wanna Farm some Gold or items and i have the needs and the DVD and the ALLREADY Online activated Game with me to play, why cant i do so ? I PAID FOR IT! Am i simply not allowed to play it ? Seriously, thisWell inplementing a Paragon System or a Monster Power System doesnt cure the Games horrendous, unfair and unsatisfying Design. Online Requirement... Well what if im on a Vacation and i wanna Farm some Gold or items and i have the needs and the DVD and the ALLREADY Online activated Game with me to play, why cant i do so ? I PAID FOR IT! Am i simply not allowed to play it ? Seriously, this should count as a Crime, badly, it doesnt!…Expand

this game simply couldnt motivate me playing beyond a onetime playthrough. i heard its getting tougher and everything, but why should i rush through the same dungeons all over again. will be talking a closer look at the multiplayer, though

I do not understand most of the praise that Diablo III is getting, nor most of the criticism. Although the auction house issues have been a problem, they weren't really game-breaking. And the login issues were mostly resolved fairly quickly. I don't think that either of these problems break the experience.

The main issue that I have with the game is that it just isn't fun to me. I canI do not understand most of the praise that Diablo III is getting, nor most of the criticism. Although the auction house issues have been a problem, they weren't really game-breaking. And the login issues were mostly resolved fairly quickly. I don't think that either of these problems break the experience.

The main issue that I have with the game is that it just isn't fun to me. I can understand that Diablo II was great back in the day, and playing this game must bring back good memories to fans. However, I never played Diablo I or II, so I feel that I might have a more unbiased opinion. And I just don't see how this game is considered up to modern standards. The just feels like a long, boring dungeon crawl with bad graphics and a slightly-above-average story.

Worst of all, the game effectively offers only one difficulty level. I was playing with 2-3 friends the whole time, who are all decent gamers, and with this group there was no challenge whatsoever in the game. We only ever died if we "stood in the fire," which is a lame game mechanic that Blizzard seems to love. Most boss fights lasted literally 30 seconds. I wasted most of my money on crafting, which I found was completely inferior to just buying gear from the auction house. And somehow I still had enough money to buy all the gear I ever wanted.

I understand that you unlock another difficulty level after you complete a playthrough, but why would I play a game again if I didn't enjoy it the first time? I was initially expecting to play the game multiple times, or at least try to find the secret level, but now none of us want to play it again. In conclusion: nothing to see here, just another over-priced, mediocre big-ticket game that's been rated way too highly by the press. It's not a bad game, but it doesn't feel up to modern standards in terms of gameplay, graphics, or length. If it were about $20-$30 cheaper, then I might recommend it.…Expand

Let me start off by saying I've been with the Diablo series since Diablo 1 first came out. Diablo3 is not the Diablo I know and love. I have two max level characters in Diablo 3.

Ok, I went into the game knowing a lot had been changed so my negative score is not based on what is written in this paragraph. Let's talk character customization. Very important in an action role-playing game,Let me start off by saying I've been with the Diablo series since Diablo 1 first came out. Diablo3 is not the Diablo I know and love. I have two max level characters in Diablo 3.

Ok, I went into the game knowing a lot had been changed so my negative score is not based on what is written in this paragraph. Let's talk character customization. Very important in an action role-playing game, right? Not in the viewpoint of the Blizzard team that developed Diablo 3. In D3 there are no attribute points that the player can allocate. No skill points to put into the character skills either. Attribute points for every character are automatically assigned and there is no option for manual control. Skill points don't exist in the game. Skils become more powerful the character levels up. Characters are granted all skills appropriate for their level and class as they level up. That is right, you don't chose any skills or spells, you get them all. Every wizard has identical attributes and identical skills available to them. A character is limited to 6 skills at any one time but can freely swap out skills at will. There is no such thing as a "character build" in Diablo 3, there is only a "build of the moment." The only thing that will ever distinguish your wizard from someone else's wizard is what gear your wizard is wearing.

Now, let's talk gear. The itemization in the game is very poor. The items all revolve around granting the player stats. There are no fun item attributes like "chance to cast frost nova" on any item in the game. What you'll see on items are bonuses to strength, intelligence, dexterity, or armor. Bland, boring items. But the unique items are great, right? No...they are the same bland items as the random magic items that drop, only worse. Yes, those uniques (called legendary items) have nothing unique about them other than being named and having a different graphic. What is worse is that they are weaker than blue items or rares that can drop in the game.

The number of gem types is reduced in Diablo 3. Gone are charms, runes, jewels, and rune words. There is no real difference between weapon types other than graphics.A two-handed maul and a two-handed sword are essentially the same weapon with different graphics.

And about item drop rate, that is a hit on the game. As you advance in the game you would expect gear leveled to your character to drop, right? Doesn't happen in Diablo 3. When you get to the highest difficulty level in the game (you have to be the max level (60) to play on it) you'll be seeing level 57 gear drop.) Level 60 gear doesn't drop until Act 3 (out of 4) in Inferno mode. So you'll be struggling to advance while undergeared.

In order to advance in the game after you hit Inferno level you'll have to buy gear off the gold auction house or the soon coming Real Money Auction House. That's right, you'll probably need to fork over your Mastercard for gear. There are no quick ways to make gold in the game. You'll be grinding for weeks or months to buy one decent piece of equipment (with prices of items in the millions of gold pieces.)

Starting in Nightmare mode, you'll see stronger and stronger elite packs. That is great!! But what is not great is that you'll encounter elite packs with affixes that make them impossible to defeat. There is actually an "Invulnerable" affix that will make monsters immune to ALL attacks. As a ranged wizard you'll be constantly "vortexed" into melee range of elite packs, teleported on top of, or "jailed" (stunned for 5 seconds or so.) Can you say "unavoidable death?" Get used to it.

Let's talk skills/spells. I have two characters at max level. A wizard and a witch doctor. There are a lot of cool spell ideas (like a giant toad for witch doctors) that simply don't work in the game. You'll find that only one or two "builds" are viable in higher difficulty levels. That is a major "hit" on the game score to me, especially since Blizzard promised a plethora of viable builds for each class. The Diablo series has always been a single player game with multiplayer elements. Diablo 3 has no offline mode. That is right, you can't play Diablo 3 offline at all. When you go online you'll find that the general chat rooms are full of "spam-bots" hawking the wares that they botted. That is right, Battlenet 2.0 and making the game "online-only" did not prevent hacks, bots, or dupes. There are also periods of heavy lag. I'd not recommend playing hardcore if you you decide to try the game.

I can't recommend the game at this point. It is a game that is still under development (it was obviously not play-tested adequately, especially on higher difficulty levels.) Maybe in 6 months to a year they will have patched the game to make more skills actually viable in the game and dealt with the rampant cheating and terrible lag. I give the game a 5.0.…Expand

Diablo 3 is a mixed bag of delicious chocolate and **** shaped to look like chocolate. The gameplay in general is still fun, and the supposed dumbing down of the skill and attribute system actually works for me. This allows players to experiment with different builds without resorting to recreating a character again just to try something new. The exclusion of manual distribution ofDiablo 3 is a mixed bag of delicious chocolate and **** shaped to look like chocolate. The gameplay in general is still fun, and the supposed dumbing down of the skill and attribute system actually works for me. This allows players to experiment with different builds without resorting to recreating a character again just to try something new. The exclusion of manual distribution of attribute points is a little missed but ultimately doesn't take away too much from the game. The enemies in the game are generally well designed and fun to kill. There are, of course, some exception that make the game totally unfun to play: namely Soul Lashers (monsters that lash at you with their tongues from afar, move really quickly and somehow do massive damage out of nowhere), kamikaze imps that hide behind doors and blow up the instant you open the door; yes its a surprise unpleasant as it is but it just gets old and cheap really quickly. Some attributes of Elites are also very annoying like Invulnerable minions which make all the creatures accompanying the elite unkillable and also soaks up damage and blocks your path to the elite. Couple that with enemies that retreat and attack from afar and you got yourself a recipe for fun times!

The story , as in the plot, is fine; nothing great, just... fine. But the delivery is where everything is flushed down the toilet. Main plot lines are extremely cheesy. The scriptwriter must have had a lot of experience writing children's book because it really seems like they are the target audience for such unoriginal and tacky lines. Be it the constant whining of Diablo, which really takes away from the "terrifying" feel of the lord of terror. Or how the master of tacticians Azmodan essentially discusses his tactics with the player ever so often. Or how Magdha, a character that could only be discribed as the Jar Jar Binks of Diablo, narrates her plans like an episode of Dora the explorer. The list goes on, and trust me the list is loooong. Stupid, juvenile scriptwriting. There is, of course, some redemption in the "other" lines, of which I am sure did not come from the same person that wrote the main script. Lore books and lines from the followers are favorful and entertaining. A special nod to the deeply religious templar Kormac and to Covertus Shen. Pick it up, pick it up :)

Also, the always online part of the game is really annoying. There is absolutely no way you can play single player when the server goes down. As if i'm playing some kind of MMO. There are of course many reasons and justifications for this but ultimately, its just really annoying not being able to play by yourself when you want to.

If you're looking for a nice hack and slash game with good mechanics and replayablility, and you have a good internet connection and don't live in Australia,then yes, please give this a try. But if you're looking for a game that has good immersion and story, please for goodness sake look elsewhere because you would be sorely disappointed. I had quite high hopes for this game but unfortunately, it wasn't met. Blizzard was known for quality storytelling in its Warcraft, starcraft and Diablo series but they really dropped the ball with this one.…Expand

This isn't a bad game so much as a game that fails to live up to expectations. The game play has been so simplified that it quickly gets repetitive. I was greatly annoyed by the need for an internet connection--the game regularly logged out for unknown reasons. I was also bothered to discover that the auction house was a far more effective way of acquiring specific gear--this results inThis isn't a bad game so much as a game that fails to live up to expectations. The game play has been so simplified that it quickly gets repetitive. I was greatly annoyed by the need for an internet connection--the game regularly logged out for unknown reasons. I was also bothered to discover that the auction house was a far more effective way of acquiring specific gear--this results in players spending a good fraction of the game at auction when they should be out there killing demons.…Expand

Face it. You bought Diablo 3 expecting a hack and slash. It's repetitive. That's what Diablo 2 and the first one was. Just killing endless mobs to advance through the level. But there was ONE THING that shone through the first two games: the loot. Back in Diablo II, you could expect a set piece or two with some decent loot when you went through your Meph runs, later to be Baal runs. DiabloFace it. You bought Diablo 3 expecting a hack and slash. It's repetitive. That's what Diablo 2 and the first one was. Just killing endless mobs to advance through the level. But there was ONE THING that shone through the first two games: the loot. Back in Diablo II, you could expect a set piece or two with some decent loot when you went through your Meph runs, later to be Baal runs. Diablo III has ruined the loot system. You can spend hours before you find an upgrade. Most of your upgrades will likely be from the Auction House. I have no problems with the rune skill system compared to the skill tree in Diablo II, it usually boiled down to one most efficient build anyway. But the class balance is terrible. I'm played a wizard for my main character, always overshadowed by barbarians, but in all honesty the class that needs some love is the monk. As of 1.0.5., the current stance of Blizzard is "We feel monks are currently fine as they are". 1.0.5. also saw the better loot drops by capping Inferno's item levels at 58, but you will still run through hours without finding anything sellable. The game isn't dead, it probably still has more players than Torchlight II, the supposed Diablo killer that now only has 5-7k concurrently, but the player numbers are EXTREMELY low for a Diablo game. In summary: Loot is TERRIBLE compared to the last two Diablos and class system needs a lot of work. I doubt we'll see that soon with the current Cheng Wilson combo as leads.…Expand

The User Score is just a tad low, but far more accurate than the critic scores.

For veterans of the Diablo series, there are clear disappointments with this title. If D3 is your first Diablo title, you'll likely think it's a great game. All told, it's got some excellent stuff and some really bad ideas. The two clash in such a way that it's hard to appreciate the way the game wasThe User Score is just a tad low, but far more accurate than the critic scores.

For veterans of the Diablo series, there are clear disappointments with this title. If D3 is your first Diablo title, you'll likely think it's a great game. All told, it's got some excellent stuff and some really bad ideas. The two clash in such a way that it's hard to appreciate the way the game was developed.

The action of D3 is unmatched. The smooth controls, fluid ability use, mindless hack and slash of monster explosions is a symphony of awesome. The art is beautiful, the music is fair, and the sheer ease with which you can move through the game is addicting. But the cost has been extremely high and it may show itself to have not been worthwhile in the long run. It would take a lot to redeem this franchise, as D3 obliterates it's past, remakes itself, and sells its soul in the name of accessibility.

So what's the soul of Diablo? It used to be character building. Nothing gave the game it's staying power and intrigue like it's character building. This included stat allocations and the infamous gear hunt. This is all gone in D3. While some may argue that the gear hunt is still there, it is without purpose or intrigue. Few can be bothered to hunt down the astronomical hours it would take to find near perfect items as we all once loved to do in D2. This is due to the introduction of the Auction Houses, which have had a detrimental impact on the design of items and ultimately on their drop rate. D3 isn't boring, but it's no sequel. This game could have been labeled with any other name and received high fan acclaim. But as a sequel, it's been largely rejected as reflected in the User Score here. It just doesn't live up to it's predecessors and falls very short of being a strong game on it's own merit.…Expand

Superficially a very good game of the Hack&Slay&Loot variety. They took the old interface and made it state of the art and polished resulting in an ease of use I seldom found in a game. Though not gorgeous, the graphics are pretty. It has to be like that, because Blizzards business model seems to revolve around having masses of users, so the high end gamers are not high on their list ofSuperficially a very good game of the Hack&Slay&Loot variety. They took the old interface and made it state of the art and polished resulting in an ease of use I seldom found in a game. Though not gorgeous, the graphics are pretty. It has to be like that, because Blizzards business model seems to revolve around having masses of users, so the high end gamers are not high on their list of people to satisfy, I presume. The story is lame, but that was to be expected. Overall I would give 8 points or so, maybe 9, but there are 2 features of the game that are - in equal parts - worth a downgrade to 5:- The loot system seems to be the result of their business case again, trying to get people to use the auction houses: --It's a bit like WOW's: no item drop ever is appropriate to your current level, but some levels below. --Even worse: the algorithm behind the random generated magical properties of even the rarest of items is - intentionally, as far as I can glean from the answers of Blizzard's staff on the forums - not taking into account whether the combination of properties makes sense. Combined with rarity apparently mainly influencing the number of properties, a rare item is usually also crappy item. My reaction to a rare item on the floor was at first: "Yay! A rare, cool!" accompanied by a warm feeling of reward. But the cold shower of a useless combo of +10 INT, +10 STR, +1% chance for more gold or something like that followed immediately. A rare item being useful - not only to my class, but to any class - is rare indeed, and since the game is about loot, this tones the experience down a lot.. - And secondly, the online requirement. In itself worth a downgrade of 1 point for punishing legit users and preventing gaming in the most modes of travel, Blizzard is not able or willing to provide the service, and that includes single player obviously (blessed the times when this was a contradiction in itself), to all players. Whether that is due to financial considerations or technical inability I don't know, but it kills the mood.

So the 2 big downers for the game are both in the psychological department: items named rare and legendary are no reward, but usually crap, and one to often is booted from the game or not even able to get in (for me it was around 10% of the days I wanted to play ) Oh - And I got no pdf manual with my digital download. Should be a 4 really...…Expand

I preoredered the game as many others, and as many others EUR players I get continuously stuck with the log in page and something like error (insert random number).I played it. A lot. And the game itself contains a lot of overlookable flaws, like the graphic.But that's all folks: crafting is rendered useless due extreme costs and poor chancesw to get something good, random loot forcesI preoredered the game as many others, and as many others EUR players I get continuously stuck with the log in page and something like error (insert random number).I played it. A lot. And the game itself contains a lot of overlookable flaws, like the graphic.But that's all folks: crafting is rendered useless due extreme costs and poor chancesw to get something good, random loot forces the player to trade in cash the items to get something good on the AH (which is one of the problem of the game on my advice).Talking about loot and gear we have the (so I think) nucleous of the game, and a rotten one: "gear is everything". Not build, not ability, no, the gear.Now, if we have a decent rpg we should have a good plot (which D3's isn't, flat, simple and short as it is) and a good fighting system (where good=balanced) where the most capable gamers go on and the least try to get better by trial & error.Here we have 3 "casual" difficulties (yes, I played the whole game three times in a row and, yeah, it is way too boring) and a hard one (plus an hardcore mode for the skilled ones, or the lucky ones rather), which it isn't really hard, it is simply masochistic.You get oneshotted by every damn mod if you try the 2nd act in a "rpg-like" (so skill>gear) way.But when you equip in a good way (which means a lot of farming, and the boring one, where you find nothing even decent and sell a whole bag of stuff to the vendors) you reap every enemy, almost without effort (still there are some random monster (yeah, random is a keyword) that you simply CANNOT defeat because of their abilities. This is not hard, this is frustrating and useless.In syntesis, the only way in Diablo 3 is brute strenght (customisation = 0, you can change the sex and the active skills, but every x lvl character (class of choice) i equal to every other of the same level and class. And more of it none has a background or something to define him (change of quotes in-game, but the mission-related speech is the same, just dubbed with different voices). You cannot gent "into" the character, which isn't good.Talking about variety we get near the core: the usual way (in abyss or inferno) are: farm farm farm farm, something good? no, sell all, auction house, can I buy anything? no, farm farm farm farm to get more gold (since hoping in a better luck isn't likely to work).So it will become a pay4win? I very think so!The normal reaction would be "but it sure has extras, right?" Wrong! No extra random dungeon (was it too hard or you just want us to pay to have 'em?), no extra mission apart from the main story, no minigames....it is "story or gtfo", end of the story.Topped already? Get another character and start again from scratch.It isn't fun? You already paid, so why should they care?The only things for this 5/10 score are the graphics (not that good and not that dark, but they get the job done) and the community (chat and laugh between a slaughter and the other is almost more fun than the game itself).I have also played D2:lod and the only good changes are the shared trunk and (to me) the 6 slots of skills (I always forgot which F had the ability I wanted), the worst things are the shrunken locations and the absence of customisation in skills (ok, you can change the build, but it almost counts nothing, compared to the importance of the gear).Will I continue playing? Yeah, If I pay for something I will play it totally, even if I don't like it that much (think about FFX-2...).Of course if they're not mantaining a full server.…Expand

How great this game would have been if it had been long enough to allow for your character to reach level 60 before you actually reached the end. As a diablo virgin, I leave this game scratching my head wondering what all the fuss has been about. I paid 60 dollars to play a 4 act game and got my character to the mid 30's, then learned to reach the level cap I had to play the same gameHow great this game would have been if it had been long enough to allow for your character to reach level 60 before you actually reached the end. As a diablo virgin, I leave this game scratching my head wondering what all the fuss has been about. I paid 60 dollars to play a 4 act game and got my character to the mid 30's, then learned to reach the level cap I had to play the same game but at a harder level. Same dialogue, same NPC characters... same story. I played through again and STILL was not at level cap. This is award winning game design? As much as I wanted to play the other characters I can't stomach having to go through the same acts 3-4 times each. Now it can be argued that the whole thing is just a loot grab. But I ask why can't the process of grabbing said loot be less monotonous? This game is half the size it should be.…Expand

I'll give this game a 6. Because its a wonderful game, but you can't launch a RPG nowadays that does not let you customize your character's appearance. Preset characters? WTF I expected more from this game in this aspect.

Bought the game today and spent ~4 hours on it. Experienced 2 time forced quit by server down.

The game is pretty much like torch light + diablo + wow ... Here's an incomplete list that let me feel that the expectation is not met at all:
1) The art style is not Gothic. 2) No single play mode
3) No attribute customization, your char totally lost the feeling of being "unique"
4) No pvp
5)Bought the game today and spent ~4 hours on it. Experienced 2 time forced quit by server down.

The game is pretty much like torch light + diablo + wow ... Here's an incomplete list that let me feel that the expectation is not met at all:

1) The art style is not Gothic. 2) No single play mode3) No attribute customization, your char totally lost the feeling of being "unique"4) No pvp5) This game feel like TorchLight ... omg...6) Bad story, too short7) Core game play lack creativity. New games are meant to have creativity, not riped from older or even competeters' ...…Expand

The best way to describe Diablo 3 is by detailing it's similarities with Duke Nukem Forever. They both have visuals that are behind the times, uninspired gameplay, and ultimately will not be able to reach the expectations of fans who have been anxiously waiting over a decade. However while Diablo 3 is simply more fun to play than Duke it has a whole host of other problems that, as of thisThe best way to describe Diablo 3 is by detailing it's similarities with Duke Nukem Forever. They both have visuals that are behind the times, uninspired gameplay, and ultimately will not be able to reach the expectations of fans who have been anxiously waiting over a decade. However while Diablo 3 is simply more fun to play than Duke it has a whole host of other problems that, as of this writing make it difficult to recommend. (For more detail read any other Diablo 3 lauch day woes on metacritic or many other public forums)…Expand

It's amazing the disparity between metacritic "Critic reviews" and user reviews. There must be something magical that "Critics" are experiencing whom "users" are not, quite the opposite of any other review community; take for example the movie review community. This game really deserves a 6. A 6 because: -Although it is quite good, it is absolutely plagued by development issues.-It isIt's amazing the disparity between metacritic "Critic reviews" and user reviews. There must be something magical that "Critics" are experiencing whom "users" are not, quite the opposite of any other review community; take for example the movie review community. This game really deserves a 6. A 6 because: -Although it is quite good, it is absolutely plagued by development issues.-It is another game where basically gamers around the world get to pay (full price) to finish beta testing it.-Certain important features of the game are totally unaccessable.-As we all know, its release was horrendous.-Normal mode is excruciately easy, by the time you get to nightmare where things "get challenging" (which they don't), you have already seen the story line. -The Acts take place with 98% similarity in setting to the acts of Diablo II. After 10+ years of development.... really?

Due to all these issues, I have generally spent more time being dissapointed in the game rather than enjoying it. TO META CRITIC: Whats the point of having "Critic" reviews who all simply prostitute out their reviews and scores? Critic and user reviews should fall in like +/- 1 or two points. All the glaring issues in this game and they still undress themselves with big ol' 100 point reviews for blizzard. It's obviously shameful.…Expand

First of: I canÂ´t give Diablo 3 a 0 because the game itself for me is a 10/10.

Now to that DRM-Crap: What makes you people (game publishers) think, that DRM is the right way? Do u really think that an internet connection is something that everybody can afford or get easily? I ordered 2 copies of this game to make my cousin in Bosnia a present so he can play Diablo 3 at homeFirst of: I canÂ´t give Diablo 3 a 0 because the game itself for me is a 10/10.

Now to that DRM-Crap: What makes you people (game publishers) think, that DRM is the right way? Do u really think that an internet connection is something that everybody can afford or get easily? I ordered 2 copies of this game to make my cousin in Bosnia a present so he can play Diablo 3 at home and be happy. But wait, he has no internet connection... REALLY??? how can he dare to have no internet connection in a country where most of the people have a average income of like 600 dollars or below? You have to understand that DRM is not only bad for people who just like to complain about everything, it IS bad for all gamers and i donÂ´t know what kind of an idiot marketing manager really believes that this is a good marketing strategy. you are so afraid of piracy that you think that you will starve to death without noticing, that you would sell even more without drm... i even know people in germany who canÂ´t afford an internet connection so even if i buy someone a whole new pc in combination with diablo 3 he wonÂ´t be able to play it at home. nice work and have fun generating money, i see that gaming is more and more becoming a privilege for extraordinary moneywasters who can be online 24/7... like me…Expand

Reading other reviews here i see that 90% of the haters here didnt play the game and/or moan about issues that arent in the game so be warned about that, the game is not that bad.Told that, after 3 weeks i am progressing in inferno act 3 and there are 3 basic issues.1) The game is not balanced at all, it goes from way too easy to so hard to get me nervous without offering any challengingReading other reviews here i see that 90% of the haters here didnt play the game and/or moan about issues that arent in the game so be warned about that, the game is not that bad.Told that, after 3 weeks i am progressing in inferno act 3 and there are 3 basic issues.1) The game is not balanced at all, it goes from way too easy to so hard to get me nervous without offering any challenging and rewarding part.

2) its actually impossible to progress in group, cause again game balance issues, so its possible to co op faceroll content but you are forced to progress alone (patches will come but hey, its late sorry).

3) The hit detection is sever side and it counts from the start of the animation, so if a mob moves the sword to hit you and you move out before it lands the hit you still get the hit, this method is super tard and cant get really why its here, also considering that the game suffers a lot for bad ping, lag and stuttering.

Blizzard is no more going for "its ready when its ready", but a more modern "we will go to patch all", as nowadays standards, patches over patches over patches.Honestly i bought the game and i wanna play it now, if its ready after 6 months a next time we will pay after six months. those devs policies should be legally forbidden imo.Imo Blizzard is no more here.…Expand

Gameplay is fun, but after a lot of hours of (clickclickclick) it gets way 2 repetitive even with friends. Its a good hack and slash, its a bit of a disappointment as Blizzard had a lot of time to make the "perfect" D3. I expected some character customization at least...non whatsoever which is a bit strange really not considering the diablo series, but considering the year of gaming we areGameplay is fun, but after a lot of hours of (clickclickclick) it gets way 2 repetitive even with friends. Its a good hack and slash, its a bit of a disappointment as Blizzard had a lot of time to make the "perfect" D3. I expected some character customization at least...non whatsoever which is a bit strange really not considering the diablo series, but considering the year of gaming we are in at the moment. When I played and leveled up my character it didn't really feel like I was developing his skills but more like he was developing his own skills and I was just using him to....point and click....very linear character skills and attributes since its mostly same kinda stuff for each type of hero. The graphics could be way way better, they are cartoon-ish and colourful yes that is true, I'm not sure if I like that or not but I would prefer better graphics and much more rich textures. I think controls could be added for movement as well not just mouse and hotkeys but thats my preference. Game is ok but I expected better (internet crashes and DRM biggest disappointment and maybe thats why my score is so low otherwise a solid 6/10 or 7/10…Expand

This game is far too easy with no way to tweak the difficulty without grinding. I realize D2 was the same way, but at least normal difficulty in D2 had some challenge. This is just pathetic. Literally no challenge. Enemies drop so many health potions it feels like I have 300% lifesteal. Except I also have lifesteal. So I can tank most fights losing little health and then the enemies dropThis game is far too easy with no way to tweak the difficulty without grinding. I realize D2 was the same way, but at least normal difficulty in D2 had some challenge. This is just pathetic. Literally no challenge. Enemies drop so many health potions it feels like I have 300% lifesteal. Except I also have lifesteal. So I can tank most fights losing little health and then the enemies drop enough health to heal me 10 times over.…Expand

100% not worth the money. If you think you are getting a great addition to epic Diablo 1 and 2 you are wrong. Class progression system is gone - no more points that can be assigned. Very linear development with all emphasis on your armor/weapons. Special abilities are 80% crap. Game feels like slash and hack type of game with Starcraft 2 type of cut scenes that look horrible (even voices100% not worth the money. If you think you are getting a great addition to epic Diablo 1 and 2 you are wrong. Class progression system is gone - no more points that can be assigned. Very linear development with all emphasis on your armor/weapons. Special abilities are 80% crap. Game feels like slash and hack type of game with Starcraft 2 type of cut scenes that look horrible (even voices are the same - Kerrigan anyone?). Graphics is sad, atmosphere nowhere to be found. Item system is crap I can't see any reason behind it but to make more $$ on weapons. Whats up with stash being so small? Music and sound is pretty bad as well. I feel that D2 and D1 had people working on them that really cared about the final product and were interested in making something long lasting that people would call EPIC, this game was not made by the same people. Overall if i have had a second chance i would not purchase this game that I waited for for so long. Blizzard, give me my money back.…Expand

Cons: Story is terrible. Voice acting is bad. Cinematics do not live up to Blizzard's Diablo 2 quality. WoW inspired skills and skill system so no great character customisation. Real Money Auction House is a joke. Looting tables and item qualities are not rewarding.

Pros: Graphics (They could be MUCH better though), Sound and Interface.

A cut down, more "mainstream" version of Diablo. Its nothing like its amazing predecessor Diablo 2. The game barrows on many features of mmorpgs, such as no dropping corpses, no stat leveling, no skill leveling, and an auction house. Basicly just hack, slash, and loot at its best. The "Skill Rune" system seems like a great way to manage your skills but in the end feels 'dumbed down'. TheA cut down, more "mainstream" version of Diablo. Its nothing like its amazing predecessor Diablo 2. The game barrows on many features of mmorpgs, such as no dropping corpses, no stat leveling, no skill leveling, and an auction house. Basicly just hack, slash, and loot at its best. The "Skill Rune" system seems like a great way to manage your skills but in the end feels 'dumbed down'. The runes basicly upgrade the skill as you go, so in most cases there would be no need to use a lower level rune. Overall I dont feel rewarded for leveling; I mean getting cooler skills/spells would be nice, but if I picked the same class twice there would be no difference once their both highly leveled. Other then their Items I havn't really had to customize anything but their names. No re-playability. Atleast not as much as Diablo 2. I could imagine you could play through each class 1 time, other then that I dont see the sense in making the same class again. In Diablo 2 you made many of the same class because you could build them differently. I had roughly 20 different builds for the 7 classes in Diablo 2. Overall just to many changes and unwanted additions to call it a good Diablo sequel. Im myself a huge blizzard fanboy, I've played and enjoyed all their games but I just feel disappointed with this release. Its still fun to play it just didn't live up to what I was hoping. If your new to Diablo then you might feel this ranks around in the 8-9 score area, but for everyone thats played D2 you may feel 5-6 is a better assessment.…Expand

Visually- 4/10 Subpar by todays standards. Why? Catering to the masses who apparently cannot afford any sort of decent PC? I don't know, and don't care frankly. I expected a lot more in this regard.

Singleplayer- 0/10 DRM dictates that I must have internet. Pathetic reasoning to explain this atrocity on top of it. D2 had single player characters that could not be used in MultiplayerVisually- 4/10 Subpar by todays standards. Why? Catering to the masses who apparently cannot afford any sort of decent PC? I don't know, and don't care frankly. I expected a lot more in this regard.

Singleplayer- 0/10 DRM dictates that I must have internet. Pathetic reasoning to explain this atrocity on top of it. D2 had single player characters that could not be used in Multiplayer games-- therefore it could have been implemented for the times I want to get my D3 on solo, wherever I want... I shouldn't have needed to connect to the internet to play alone. Multiplayer - 10/10 Playing through with a couple friends has been a blast. Nostalgia kicks in, I can ignore the visually unappealing game and just have fun.

Customization- 0/10 There is none. There is really nothing else to say about this game in that respect. Cater to the sheep who apparently can't figure out how to build a character through a skill tree. Justify it however you want other players- its the ultimate game for cookie cutter characters. Nevermind that games have been using skill tree type systems, and doing it well, for well over a decade now. Total fail in this facet of gameplay.

Story- 6/10 I may have to edit this post in the future but so far (through Act II)- a tad bit predictable. Throw me a little curve or something... anything...

Overall - 5/10.

Basically if you want a mediocre iteration of the Diablo franchise this game is for you. Its not bad, its fun multiplayer, horrible solo, but its not mind blowing in any sense nor by any stretch of the imagination.

P.S. The number of "reviews" on this site both good and bad that have literally no arguments to warrant either a "10" or a "0" should be removed. The reviews spamming statements should be removed, and the reviews simply insulting other users should be removed. We might then see a more realistic "User Score". Until then it will simply be a war of people who blindly vote 10 vs. people who blindly vote 0, and insult/argue about why they have justified these inappropriate scores.…Expand

The game is definitely fun, but it just doesn't feel like a Diablo game and more like a clone with a different atmosphere( it's nowhere near as gory as Diablo 2!) Although it has improved on a few things from Diablo 2 it has also ruined a few things that made Diablo 2 great. Of course my biggest issue is paying 60 dollars for a semi-playable game. It is an atrocity that Blizz forces you toThe game is definitely fun, but it just doesn't feel like a Diablo game and more like a clone with a different atmosphere( it's nowhere near as gory as Diablo 2!) Although it has improved on a few things from Diablo 2 it has also ruined a few things that made Diablo 2 great. Of course my biggest issue is paying 60 dollars for a semi-playable game. It is an atrocity that Blizz forces you to play SP online only and have to deal with constant connection problems that can make you lose some of your progress in the game or not even be able to play at all. So far it's been fun but also a bit of a letdown.…Expand

I only got this game because it came with WoW's annual pass feature. Otherwise, this is far from worth the sixty dollar retail price. Diablo 3 has become extremely simplified. Attributes are adjusted by themselves, talents become available as the character levels up, no talent trees to choose from. Blizzard put emphasis on using the environment to kill enemies, that players will likelyI only got this game because it came with WoW's annual pass feature. Otherwise, this is far from worth the sixty dollar retail price. Diablo 3 has become extremely simplified. Attributes are adjusted by themselves, talents become available as the character levels up, no talent trees to choose from. Blizzard put emphasis on using the environment to kill enemies, that players will likely never use.This game needed heavier system requirements to obtain a darker atmosphere. Knowing Blizzard, they gotta make an engine that can run across many computers as possible. Story-line? I never really cared for Diablo's story. Probably the worst part is the DRM. There is no offline play or LAN play. The music is great! Diablo 3 is still a solid game with all of it's shortcomings though.…Expand

On one hand, its a good game. Well made, typical of its genre, lots of clicking etc :)

On the other so far (end of Act 2) little or no sub-plots. Dumbed down stats management - do companies not realise that players want to feel as though their characters are personal? Fixed stats per character type destroy that. No character portraits or customisation. Every character, colour asideOn one hand, its a good game. Well made, typical of its genre, lots of clicking etc :)

On the other so far (end of Act 2) little or no sub-plots. Dumbed down stats management - do companies not realise that players want to feel as though their characters are personal? Fixed stats per character type destroy that. No character portraits or customisation. Every character, colour aside looks exactly the same...

Finallly, online DRM.... battle net down again.... first weekend.... they have had so long to get this right. And they have failed miserably. If online DRM was not around, I'd give it an extra couple of points. As it is, I have a distinct problem with not being able to play a single player game without the need for an internet server.…Expand

As many of these reviews were made on release date which was, to be modest, a terrible launch day, I feel it is only fair to give the game an honest review that isn't smothered in contempt and raging anxiety. Diablo 3 is a DECENT game, it's not good, and itâ

Here is a 26 page thread on the official Diablo 3 forum dated June 2, 2012.:

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5578592473.
It is an honest up to date view of how registered players rate D3. Gone are the rage reviews from the initial start up when players were unable to access and play D3 for 2 days after it's release. Gone are the reviews rated "10" for people trying to counteractHere is a 26 page thread on the official Diablo 3 forum dated June 2, 2012.:

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5578592473.

It is an honest up to date view of how registered players rate D3. Gone are the rage reviews from the initial start up when players were unable to access and play D3 for 2 days after it's release. Gone are the reviews rated "10" for people trying to counteract the rage reviews. Also gone are the reviews by "professional raters", the critics that write reviews and work for magazines and web sites that rely on money recieved for advertising from game manufacturer's: http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Diablo-3-Launch-Fiasco-Proves-Video-Game-Journalism-Fails-42624.html. The average user rating shows 6.0 to 6.5. The thread says it all.…Expand

I just finished normal mode and made it into the next playtrue, however I don't feel like playing much more. (got maybe 8 hour gameplay.) Reasons are mixed, but it generally is summed up as the game looking and feeling like it should have been made in 2005 or 2006. It's simply not worth the price. Try getting Magicka or Torchlight II instead, which is both cheaper and in my view better.

Compared to generally analogous video games that have been released in the last couple of years, Diablo III is average. That being said, as a long time fan of Blizzard and their reputation for quality over quantity (e.g., "We'll release it when it's ready.") I was disappointed by this game. To me, it seemed more like a glorified expansion to Diablo II. The thought that repeatedly cameCompared to generally analogous video games that have been released in the last couple of years, Diablo III is average. That being said, as a long time fan of Blizzard and their reputation for quality over quantity (e.g., "We'll release it when it's ready.") I was disappointed by this game. To me, it seemed more like a glorified expansion to Diablo II. The thought that repeatedly came to mind as I button mashed my way through was, "it took you a decade to come up with this? I'll have to recalibrate my expectations going forward."…Expand

The game itself is well made. It looks great, sound effects are great and even the story is not half bad. The problem is that it is not Diablo. The game does not feel anything like its predecessor, and instead the developers have borrowed most of the mechanics from World of Warcraft, a proven business model for success, and as a result, Diablo 3 just doesn't have that same feel to it.The game itself is well made. It looks great, sound effects are great and even the story is not half bad. The problem is that it is not Diablo. The game does not feel anything like its predecessor, and instead the developers have borrowed most of the mechanics from World of Warcraft, a proven business model for success, and as a result, Diablo 3 just doesn't have that same feel to it. Skills unlock as you level up, there is no need for planned builds as all characters get the same abilities and can switch them out at any time. Attributes are no longer player controlled, and even item randomization has predictable dull patterns. Overall Diablo 2 fans will be very disappointed with this lackluster sequel. Sadly these days many developers seem to be moving toward a mass market approach for games. Take the Mass Effect franchise for example.…Expand

This game gets a 5. Not because it isn't fun. It's a fun dungeon crawler. Whether it's a true sequel or not is up for debate. I don't really care. I'm not here to discuss that point. What I am here to say is that the game would probably be an 8 or a 9 if it wasn't for one thing -- Required online connection.

That doesn't sound bad, and it may sound as if I'm being harsh. WhileThis game gets a 5. Not because it isn't fun. It's a fun dungeon crawler. Whether it's a true sequel or not is up for debate. I don't really care. I'm not here to discuss that point. What I am here to say is that the game would probably be an 8 or a 9 if it wasn't for one thing -- Required online connection.

That doesn't sound bad, and it may sound as if I'm being harsh. While playing single player, your experience will be tarnished by anywhere from 200-600 ping. Your abilities will sometimes not register. You will become desynced and disconnected from your single player game. If ANY other company released a game where the single player wasn't able to function at a reasonable level and your gameplay was constantly tarnished by uncontrollable hiccups and failures, it would have received a 60 at best.

Remember 5 years ago when MMOs always suffered through horrendous launch issues that would plague the first month of the game and cause a miserable experience for everyone involved?

Blizzard managed to simulate that in a game that has single player options as well now. So I suppose they did make an innovation of some kind.…Expand

This game is a big meh. The normal difficulty is not normal, it is way to freaking easy. This makes progressing trough this mode before you get to the "real" game a chore. If I want to do chores, ill clean up my room, not play diablo 3.The constant connection is a complete pain in the behind. I've only died because of lagspikes. The result is that people that pay the 60(!!) euro of thisThis game is a big meh. The normal difficulty is not normal, it is way to freaking easy. This makes progressing trough this mode before you get to the "real" game a chore. If I want to do chores, ill clean up my room, not play diablo 3.The constant connection is a complete pain in the behind. I've only died because of lagspikes. The result is that people that pay the 60(!!) euro of this game are affected. With some kind of offline crack, this problem would be void.Blizzard has no argument to have this crappy kind of servers. They knew the problems were there, they have experienced engineers that are capable of building good servers (They should have them atleast, or atleast the ability to hire them).The new system (compared to diablo 2) is both better and worse. I hate it that I can't see stats of all the special attacks. It only has some vague explanation what they do. Most of the time you pick a set of skills and stick with them. There is no real need to switch.The auction system makes the game a complete imbalance. You can get awesome gems at the first point you get accces to socceted items, so at lvl 25 you can have +200 on a single stat with gems.…Expand

Such a bland average game , not sure how it took so long to make something that is in pretty much every way inferior to the previous title. Granted did play all the way through once with a friend which was fun and clocked in at about 20ish hrs but no reason to play more as there is better things to do with my time.

The Game is fun, I guess. I was never that found of Diablo and Diablo 2, TBH, and D3 strikes me as being the same. The story is linier, the action is a frantic clickfest, requiring almost no strategy, the visuals are not tripple-a, and the characters are only of marginal interest.
The Game's largest fault is the Alwas Online (as many have said) that leands itself more to a MMRPG than aThe Game is fun, I guess. I was never that found of Diablo and Diablo 2, TBH, and D3 strikes me as being the same. The story is linier, the action is a frantic clickfest, requiring almost no strategy, the visuals are not tripple-a, and the characters are only of marginal interest.
The Game's largest fault is the Alwas Online (as many have said) that leands itself more to a MMRPG than a good old fasion dungeon crawler. I cant save before a particularly big bos (or at all) and deaths are respawned back at you last checkpoint. It's exactly how an MMO works, and I dont like it. It frustrates me that I can play the game how I like, (or even when I like, because of server issues).

That said, D3 is an experiance, most gamers should have. So pick up a copy.... in a few months time.... on the cheap. And Blizzard... Cummon, Finish Starcraft aleady!!!…Expand

Well now... In my long gaming history, I don't think i've played any games as much as D1 and D2. Days, weeks and months were thrown into these games, and I loved every minute and never skipped a cutscene. Its fair to say I was expecting a LOT from D3, with its many (MANY) years of development and with blizzards reputation for 'polish' and I know i'm not as down right gutted as manyWell now... In my long gaming history, I don't think i've played any games as much as D1 and D2. Days, weeks and months were thrown into these games, and I loved every minute and never skipped a cutscene. Its fair to say I was expecting a LOT from D3, with its many (MANY) years of development and with blizzards reputation for 'polish' and I know i'm not as down right gutted as many reviewers, but I am still pretty disappointed... The core gameplay I'm enjoying, the lust for loot etc is great, although after 2 and a half full play throughs all the loot has been either 'magic' or 'rare' whereas in D2 i'd have seen loads of uniques and sets by now. . . minor niggle, and as I said i'm enjoying the game and the skill system, where very (far too) BASIC its fun and it seems to be working. I like the auction house idea, and the achievments etc... Graphics and sound are pretty enough, yup, tho catering to high end rigs would have been nice and the WoW style doesn't really fit in the D3 world AT ALL... For me tho, the story really ruins the game. I remember the haunting, grim and dark D2 story, Maurius losing his mind, the dark wanderer, the machinations of the prime evils etc... A SOLID story, gripping, and lovely and juicy and DARK. D3 story is really.... weak. I hate sounding like another betrayed fanboy but there are no excuses, the story is weak, characters don't feel anything more than paperthin, seems really bitty and thrown together... Real shame because if the game had been made maybe an Act longer, and the story was as gripping and interesting as D1 & D2 they'd have had a real jewel in the Diablo crown. Don't get me wrong, i'm hooked, and I can see this game giving me HOURS of awesome playtime, but it is still, by and large, a huge disappointment. And I've not even MENTIONED the massive issues with release-date play and the LUNACY of sunday-after-release-midday-maintenance. Scrapes a 5 for me. Think thats fair.…Expand

I think that Blizzard tried to do too many things with this game. The fact that it had to be reworked probably led to the dated graphics.

Good Points the game is fun, you feel exhilarated when your character can use abilities to cut a swathe through the enemy. Locking the stats can seriously reduce the rampant cheating that occurred in Diablo2, as well as the persistent online world, evenI think that Blizzard tried to do too many things with this game. The fact that it had to be reworked probably led to the dated graphics.

Good Points the game is fun, you feel exhilarated when your character can use abilities to cut a swathe through the enemy. Locking the stats can seriously reduce the rampant cheating that occurred in Diablo2, as well as the persistent online world, even though a little annoying especially if you don't have good internet. The use of percentages throughout ensures that all skills remain useable and relevant fixing a Diablo 2 problem where one had to totally retool your skills when you went from normal to nightmare or nightmare to hell.

Bad Points the graphics are a bit dated, the locking of attributes, skills is a double edged sword. I could argue for the locking of the stats as that can reduce the cheating that was rampant in Diablo2. They could have linked skill damage to stats as opposed to weapon damage which just opens another loophole. This loophole mind you may have been devised to make them money through the auction houses, however potentially can ruin the game from abuse. The locking of item stat association has unfortunately led to the ludicrous fact that a mage could theoretically wield a sword with the same aplomb as a barbarian. Other issues In Titan Quest you had to press a key to loot which meant no interference when fighting, however in Diablo3 a game many years its senior you are accidentally picking up objects instead of attacking enemies. There should be a way to transfer objects from one of your characters to another one, up to me writing this not sure if there is outside of the auction house.

The lack of skill customization unfortunately removes almost all re-playability in the game, because while the runes give you good variability, all you have to do is to equip the others to see how they work.

This kills one of the better aspects of Diablo2 where you could have 3 or more different types of Amazon or Paladin etc. They have simplified the game too much, in an effort to distill a fun game they have lost the essence of what makes a good RPG and followed in the footsteps of their competition EA. This has resulted in a game that a lot of persons will pay for and play however has lost its RPGness.I would implore these publishers to go back to the drawing board or forever lose one of the most enduring, most followed genre in computer games. While generally less is more in this case less just made you feel cheated..... out of an RPG......again.…Expand

Blizzard fails to deliver what could have been an amazing Action RPG. To break it down. Video: The game looks good and has a nice flow when everything is optimal (No server lag etc). The graphics are unfortunately not able to deliver the atmosphere we know from D2. It is to bright and cartoonish in its own way to deliver a dark and chilling experience. 7/10.

Audio:
The game sounds veryBlizzard fails to deliver what could have been an amazing Action RPG. To break it down. Video: The game looks good and has a nice flow when everything is optimal (No server lag etc). The graphics are unfortunately not able to deliver the atmosphere we know from D2. It is to bright and cartoonish in its own way to deliver a dark and chilling experience. 7/10.

Audio:
The game sounds very good. The sound track and general audio really does it's job to enhance the heroic hack 'n slash this game were supposed to be. 9/10 Unfortunately, the dialogue and voices are in short, horrible. 2/10. Summarized: 6/10.

Gameplay:
The game suffer from several gamebreaking things. 1) First, there is the intentional lag for hit detection. You can not dodge missiles or bigger melee attacks. This makes for many frustrating moments where your tactical movements are punished, instead of rewarded. Hardcore players will lose many characters due to this horrible game design. 2) Always online. The game demands you to be online at all times, even when playing single player mode. This alone is not a big issue, but Blizzards servers fail to maintain steady servers. This causes ingame lag, issues for logging in and playing with your friends. This feature simply causes many problems which easily could have been avoided. 3) This is an action RPG. But you can not develop your character in any way possible - except from leveling ofcourse. Both the main stat (Str, Vit, Dex, Int) and the skill system is pre-determinated. Every part of what made Diablo 2 into an action RPG is dumbed down as far as it goes. This game has zero replayability. 4) The areas you travel through are not randomly generated, but rather very predeterminated. This choise causes the game to be more boring than it has to be.
5) There are four, 4, difficulty levels. This could have been a positive thing, but the HUGE gap between Hell (3rd) and Inferno (4th) causes everyone to hit a brick wall. This alone is not a negative thing, but several ingame designs causes the grind to be thedious rather then fun. 6) The economical aspect of the game takes up too much space in the way you experience the game. The introduction of the AH and Real Money AH simply buts alot of weight on the gold instead of the items themselves. Combine this with a redicolus repaircost, high cost crafting plans for items and gems, pluss the fact that items you find are worth nothing at all - you get a money farming game instead of a pure hack 'n slash game. If you don't have the time to play 5+ hours a day, you are simply dependant on farming gold and what other people put on the AH/RMAH.
7) The game offers a flexible skill system. But there are some builds that are obviously better then others, thus dimming down the depth of the skill system. The game promotes you to use what ever spells/abilities you want - but if you chose to do so, the game punishes you by removing buffs (Neph Valor) and makes you wait for cooldowns. So being flexible with the flexible skill system punishes you.
8) The game suffers from an escalation in stat values. A barbarian starts out with something as low as 100 healt points at lvl 1. At level 60, you can have close to 100 000 HP. This escalation is one of the things that causes the issues with Inferno difficulty, as the monsters health increases ALOT, while you reach max level in Act 2 or 3 on Hell difficulty. 9) The items in the game are boring. This is mainly due to the dumbed down stat and skill system. The stat and skill system is set in stone and therefore the items can not function the way they did in Diablo 2. They have also removed many, many affixes from D2. Also, your damage is manly determinated by weapon damage. As a result, wizards can very well use 2h axes with better sucsess then a wizard class spesific wand. 3/10.

All in all, Diablo 3 has very little to do with its elder brother, Diablo 2. Only the title and setting is similar. The always-online, dumbed down stat- and skill system, shallow item-system and buildt in lag are things that ALWAYS will be in the way of the positive things this game has to offer. This game is nothing more the a mediocre product who might be pathced to be a better game in the future. Sadly, the patches so far has proven that it will a long time before that. If you chose to pick up this game, be prepared to feel mighty powerfull as you level through the early stages of the game. But the higher level and further in the game you get, the less of an hack 'n slash it is. Your hero become weak and you will have to kite/run away more then you fight. Sadly, this game does not even come close to have the functionality Diablo 2 and other hack 'n slash games have. Signed, long time Blizzard and Diablo-fan ='(…Expand

Still pretty frequent server outages. The game is far too easy on the initial difficulty, and very boring until you unlock more abilities. At that point it becomes pretty fun, at least for awhile. The plot is hilariously bad in the first act, but it does improve later.

If you haven't played borderlands yet, I'd give that a shot first. Diablo will likely be much more fun in a year orStill pretty frequent server outages. The game is far too easy on the initial difficulty, and very boring until you unlock more abilities. At that point it becomes pretty fun, at least for awhile. The plot is hilariously bad in the first act, but it does improve later.

If you haven't played borderlands yet, I'd give that a shot first. Diablo will likely be much more fun in a year or so when they've fixed all the server issues, gameplay balance, and bugs.…Expand

i dont like it at all but i have to play it cause i bought it... i dont wanna refund already waste hours on it i so, but still sad, about the gameplay its fine but at the endgame it becomes pretty rigid forcing you to play one way

Unfortunately for a single player game with co-op play the story is far too short and repeatability verges on frustrating rather than fun, as the more difficult mode, just means the more times you get killed in 1 hit.

Co-op seems to be only for lower difficulty as the game seems to greatly punish playing with player rather than mercenaries and class balance doesn't seem to be aUnfortunately for a single player game with co-op play the story is far too short and repeatability verges on frustrating rather than fun, as the more difficult mode, just means the more times you get killed in 1 hit.

Co-op seems to be only for lower difficulty as the game seems to greatly punish playing with player rather than mercenaries and class balance doesn't seem to be a consideration when releasing the game, but rather as an after thought.

Pros:- Side conversations are entertaining- Still great to pick up mass loot and finding a gem of an item- I like the graphic style.- Auction house- 18 hours of fun game play

Cons- Unbalanced classes- Short and predictable main story line- additional difficulties seem more like a chore and can be really frustrating gameplay.

Note: This is from level 52 perspective, I will reach max level but that is mostly because I'm bored and not because the game gives incentive to get there.…Expand

I'm not the biggest RPG gamer around, but I daresay I know my way around a few. This is my first time playing a Diablo game, so storywise, I can't really judge. Gameplay however is lacking severely in replay-ability. The only real replay value present is dungeons are formed in randomization. Furthermore, the dungeon layouts are predictable, specifically the side quest ones. TheI'm not the biggest RPG gamer around, but I daresay I know my way around a few. This is my first time playing a Diablo game, so storywise, I can't really judge. Gameplay however is lacking severely in replay-ability. The only real replay value present is dungeons are formed in randomization. Furthermore, the dungeon layouts are predictable, specifically the side quest ones. The scripted dungeons become monotonous very quickly and if you're a thorough dungeon clearer like myself, enemies pose little to no threat on the lower difficulties. What good I can say for it is that I have enjoyed walking through the story with my friends. Having ranged, melee, and healer in a single party with some of your closest friends is truly fun no matter the game. All the basic team elements can be found in this game but the higher difficulties may bring down the enjoyment.…Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
I'm a little over 60 hours into the game, and I will be the first one to tell you that while it is very good, there are a lot of things that just leave me scratching my head. The biggest problem is that the elite items you need to even be able to play in Inferno difficulty never drop. In the time I have played, I have yet to see a SINGLE legendary or set item drop. Part of me wonders if they've done that to try, and get people to spend money in the RMAH (if that's their plan it's worked on me). One of my favorite things about Diablo 2 is that you would be rewarded somewhat regularly by getting good items. I think that was why it was so addictive. This is more akin to playing a slot machine that won't pay out. The only legendary and set items I've been able to get my hands on were from the auction house. It's a very good looking game. Especially when comparing it to Diablo 2, it's obviously a vast improvement. It's not nearly as cartoony as WoW, but it just doesn't feel as evil as D2 or even D1. I'm pretty disappointed that the graphics don't support SLI. Maybe they will in a future patch, but I wish they would have spent less time making cinematics that everyone will watch a exactly once and skip them going forward, and more time making the game run better. It can get choppy, and the framerate can slow to a crawl if there's too much going on at once (even with a new computer). I did a Witch Doctor, and while it's definitely fun to rain toads down on my enemies, there are a lot of flat out WORTHLESS skills that they put in there. Toad of Hugeness? Spider Queen? Snake to the Face? Comical skills at best, but they feel like filler material to me. Zombie dogs were useful until about halfway through nightmare when they started dying instantly. WD needs some serious buffs because right now, you can just about guarantee that every other elite monster is going to kill you about a dozen times in inferno (and probably break all your items). Speaking of magic enchanted monsters, I'm a little confused why they're so much more powerful that the unique ones you run into. I can kill monsters with purple names and act bosses easily enough, but the champion ones with 3-4 magical enchantments? Wait til you run into your first pack of, oh I don't know, vampiric, extra health, plagued, waller zombies. I can't believe there's people who play hardcore mode...

Despite my gripes though, it's still a good game. Though I'm not sure if I'm playing it because I truly love it, or if I'm playing it trying to relive my Diablo 2 nostalgia. Time will tell. It's definitely more linear, and you really don't have that sense of community like you had in D2. I think that's because there's really no interface anymore for you to chat in outside games, or even pick the games you want to play in (currently if you join a public game, you pick what quest you want to play, and it puts you in a random game with other people on that same quest). Hopefully Blizzard will be diligent about making meaningful improvements to the game. I've been playing the Diablo series since the last 90's, and would hate to see it end like this. At the end of the day it's a fun hack and slash game, but it doesn't feel as much like a Diablo game as it should.…Expand

What could very well be the single most disappointing release in video gaming history, Diablo 3 proves to be a knife twist in the heart for many Diablo fans while simultaneously still managing to stand tall among other action role playing games.

The game's strengths, and more so weaknesses, revolve around both the game's simplicity and the massively multiplayer driven auction house.What could very well be the single most disappointing release in video gaming history, Diablo 3 proves to be a knife twist in the heart for many Diablo fans while simultaneously still managing to stand tall among other action role playing games.

The game's strengths, and more so weaknesses, revolve around both the game's simplicity and the massively multiplayer driven auction house. Where many ARPG's go for a talent tree, or a similar point allotment system, Diablo 3 eliminates that in favor for a small swappable hotkey palette (total of six skills at a time), each skill in turn capable of being upgraded with a single rune out of a choice of 5 that are unlocked gradually as you level. Finally this is capped with three passive skills that are chose from a list of about fifteen.
While this may seem like an impressively diverse system, most skills and runes are either too bad to be used or too good to be overlooked, and the lack of synergy between skills and runes means that skills will mostly be picked for standalone power over build viability.

The game also requires an online connection in order to prevent item duping, which can lead to death issues due to lag or disconnection making hardcore mode very unappealing. The auction house also tends to be required in order to find gear upgrades due to the sheer absurd rarity of finding a well rolled item. This issue may possibly be resolved in the next expansion, where developers are suggesting that bind on account gear will be more competitive.

While combat mechanics are fairly solid and graphics impressive although not terribly moody, the game falls short with very standard AAA production audio, dull and repetitive enemies, and a surprisingly bad storyline given the game's history and the resources available to the developers. What's more the game seems to revolve around farming loot, as if that aspect alone is what makes a dungeon crawler appealing. Worst of all, perhaps, are the grotesquely skewed attributes in the game, with some stats being godly powerful and others being utterly useless resulting in most items being lackluster to any given player.

Bad itemization is further marred by the fact that only survivability (health, all resist, and life steal) and DPS stats (weapon damage, primary stat, crit, crit damage, attack speed) are the only desirable stats for any given player, meaning that, aside from primary stat and class unique items, everyone gears the exact same regardless of class and build. Essentially the game simplifies things down to how far you can push your DPS without getting instantly killed by enemies, which is eerily similar to the how damage dealers operate in Blizzard's other blockbuster game World of Warcraft.
Creative tactics and unusual builds, thus, fall to the wayside as the game appears to be attempting to simplify what constitutes a gear upgrade, pushing for player power to manifest in the form of 'farming as quickly as possible'. Avoiding mechanics becomes pointless (it's not very possible most of the time anyway) once a character's DPS And life steal can out heal anything thrown at them, provided their health and damage resistance stats are high enough to be prevent dieing in a fraction of a second. The usefulness of most items, thus, can be ascertained with a mere glance rather than a hearty comparison.

Overall Diablo 3 is not a bad game by any stretch, but simply cannot stand up to the overall quality and replay value demanded of it, or even its own predecessors. The arguably overly simplistic design and scope also leaves the game with an unpleasant aftertaste that smacks too much of a well polished 'baby's first dungeon crawler'. It's worth playing, but simply doesn't offer anything new or exciting to the genre.

7/10 a solid ARPG, better than most, but nothing too special and severely hurt by tripping over it's own poorly executed loot and hero customization philosophies. Required online play is also a slap to the face.…Expand

Lots of people think that this game is a complete disaster and I can't agree with them. Yes, in comparison with its ancestor the game isn't so good, but it's still worth playing. It' just good hack'n'slash. Graphics and music are okay. the greatest minus is has is the length, every act is about 2-2.5 acts length. But still it's a good game. And I don't regret buying it.

As a huge fan of first 2 Diablo games I bought this the moment it was released and I was basically disappointed on every level. While I finished the game and I enjoyed the ride a bit, it took me 2 days and I never had a feeling I should go through it again, or even try out different classes. I finished first 2 Diablo games like 50 times replayed them to death simply because it was soAs a huge fan of first 2 Diablo games I bought this the moment it was released and I was basically disappointed on every level. While I finished the game and I enjoyed the ride a bit, it took me 2 days and I never had a feeling I should go through it again, or even try out different classes. I finished first 2 Diablo games like 50 times replayed them to death simply because it was so amazing, addictive, fun and just extremely replayable, but Diablo 3 lacks all that magic. I never had an urge to go back and through that again. Maybe it's the kiddie colorful visuals, gone is the darkness of the first Diablo, it kills all the atmosphere and where is that cult music? Diablo had one of the best soundtracks ever created for a videogame and Diablo 2 was also fantastic. I don't remember absolutely anything about the music in Diablo 3, so bland, average and completely forgettable. It seems mostly new team consisting of very different people compared to previous games were responsible for creation of this and it definitely shows. This is leagues worse than previous games from the series. Also, if you add that always-online DRM bs that Blizzard pulled off, you get the urge to go to red numbers with the final score, but I'm trying to stay objective, the game wasn't really all that bad, but it just wasn't even nearly as good as previous Diablo games, not even close. 5/10…Expand

First off some rant and rage: I honestly wasn't expecting much when I installed the game. At first I got familiar with the errors for full servers and when I managed to get into the game I was fighting with the power called "server lag". In single player you face not only Diablo and his minions, but also Blizzard and it's stubbornness. Due to the constant internet connection requiered toFirst off some rant and rage: I honestly wasn't expecting much when I installed the game. At first I got familiar with the errors for full servers and when I managed to get into the game I was fighting with the power called "server lag". In single player you face not only Diablo and his minions, but also Blizzard and it's stubbornness. Due to the constant internet connection requiered to play the game both in SP and MP ( the DRM in other words) Diablo 3 really made an impact on the gaming community and fans ... a bad one, unfortunately. Random people from random games getting dropped out of the games which they play with friends over in MP, people getting thrown back in the main menu because of connection lost thus making SP hard to even progress in story, since you were forced to re-fight the whole zone to get to where you were before. But enough about connection issues.As for game performance, details and etc. : When it comes to polished games Blizzard knows how to deliver - close to 0 bugs in about 10 hours of gameplay (enough to finish off normal difficulty). Graphics wise the game is not really a gem for the eyes to gaze upon. As every other Blizzard game even an old PC would be able to run it smoothly and because of that even on MAX details and etc. the game is just about average compared to most modern day made games. The art is somewhat different from what I expected but that's just my opinion. In terms of audio and sound Blizzard has made some decent soundtracks for the different environments and cutscenes which is always a plus if you want to get the player in a certain mood or help him understand the depth of the atmosphere around him. The game as overall runs smooth and with no random drops in frames per second or any kind of audio bugs and etc.Gameplay: Now this is where I am going on a rampage to criticize the game ...First off - game was made by some of the devs behind the making of World of Warcraft and thus the game is just made plain simple ... When leveling up you don't get stat points, nor skill points to customize your build of your character, the only thing that makes you more different from any other person out there are the stats of your gear. It's strange how when you see the "LEVEL XX" above your character you start thinking "oh boy, how should I distribute my points" and then you remember - "oh ye, I can't do anything". Stats are automatically leveled up and spells get unlocked so you can't really do anything at all. You could perhaps differ from other people by customizing your spells with spell glyphs but then again - everyone will obviously select the ones who are best in slot. So far everything is World of Warcraft similar, isn't it ? Moving on - crafting. At first I was really hyped behind all this crafting of gems and items, but after I got familiar by spending gold to level those professions I once again got this though in my head "isn't this the same thing as the crafting in WoW?" ... and it really is. Auction house was added which the Diablo games never really needed. After I got through normal I decided to check the AH and what did I see ... hundreds of useless items flooding it making it a bit irritating.What else am I missing ... the interface is somewhat what was to be expected modern version of the D2 interface with a little touch of WoW again with those quest tracking and etc. And before I conclude with the review here is what is the most annoying in the game - the limit of players in one MP game is 4, that's right - 4 ! Those that have more than 3 friends with which they want to play together - sorry, you won't be able ... get over it.

Final words to sum everything up: For 60 bucks you get a strictly controlled through DRM game which will requier you to play online your dose of single player action and if you're headed to MP be warned, you can only play with up to 3 of your friends in one game ... that is, of course, if you are ABLE TO CONNECT to the servers. D3 will offer you mediocore graphics and art plus audio and sounds at a decent level which you can run easily even on an older computer. For those such as myself who have tagged along from D1 through D2 in the new D3 you will not see anything "new". Blizzard took 4 years of time to develop a game which is more like Diablo 2 but with modern graphics, audio and interface and added to it useless features such as crafting of items and gear and above all an AH flooded much like World of Warcraft's one - lots of things, most of which not worth even the time to stop and look at them.

As I said in the start - I didn't expect much ... and didn't receive much in the end ... as expected of Blizzard's MMORPG devs - they don't know how to deliver to the hack and slash fans of the Diablo franchise ...…Expand

An amazing disappointment. It seems like the developers sat down with a list of things that you could do in Diablo 2 and went through one by one making sure you could NOT do them in D3. Bosses drop worse loot than random spawning packs? No ability to change act once game has started? Faster run speed, +skill level, and other useful item stats removed and replaced with BORING as heckAn amazing disappointment. It seems like the developers sat down with a list of things that you could do in Diablo 2 and went through one by one making sure you could NOT do them in D3. Bosses drop worse loot than random spawning packs? No ability to change act once game has started? Faster run speed, +skill level, and other useful item stats removed and replaced with BORING as heck copypaste +str +dex +int +vit. Dexterity does nothing for a barbarian since they removed attack rating and chance for enemies to land attacks, and every class has some stupid unique resource so that they can be a special snowflake. The 6 ability limit is the dumbest thing I have seen in a game in recent history. Its similar but so much worse than a 2 gun limit from FPS games, since having a wide array of skills is NECESSARY. Why is there no pvp? The story is a JOKE. Complete betrayal of the original 2 games. Okay enough negativity. Positive points: It...uhh... has the camera in a top down view? Seriously, this game is NOT Diablo. 5/10 is the best score I can give it, and that is 4 points of nostalgia with 1 point of real earned content.…Expand

The game could have been much better if it was kept as a simple offline game, but with the entire game being online, simple things players have come to expect from a point and click RPG are now subject to latency normally only seen in MMORPG's. I am very disappointed that there is no offline mode. Being overseas means I cannot play this game. A massive waste of my money.

The game, when it's playable, is enjoyable enough. I can play for quite a while before getting bored and needing a break and the animations / graphics are decent enough. The distinct atmosphere of the previous games is lacking though and the amount of 'polish' actually distracts me.

The voice acting is really corny and the story pretty far-fetched too, but I suppose that's never beenThe game, when it's playable, is enjoyable enough. I can play for quite a while before getting bored and needing a break and the animations / graphics are decent enough. The distinct atmosphere of the previous games is lacking though and the amount of 'polish' actually distracts me.

The voice acting is really corny and the story pretty far-fetched too, but I suppose that's never been Diablo's strong point. In the end, the game has all the elements that you expect from this genre, shiny but lacking of innovation. The only innovation comes in the form of the DRM and auction house.

And although it might be an easy thing to pick on, I don't think Blizzard should be allowed to be forgiven this horrible choice of DRM. I couldn't play at first and when I could I got random disconnects combined with losing progress and all the 'fog-of-war' back (which *really* annoys me, after just having cleared every corner). I took a break, even went on holidays for a few days and when I returned today I still couldn't play because of a 'server maintenance' (on a sunday).

All the positive elements of this game will not get rid of these first (and second) impressions. I'm sure I'll have fun with this when it's stable enough to finish, but I surely regret buying this. If you like these types of games I still recommend it (despite all its flaws).. but I suggest you at least wait a month for things to stabilize and don't pay more than $25 tops.…Expand

Fun game, but with dumbed down skill system. I vote for 8 if blizzard can handle server request, but with all these isues i set for 6. I play Torchlight 2 beta and it is almost same fun but with better skill systems and good characters and finnaly game is with lan support and non-online single.

I had a friend give me a guest past, overall the game is ok no issues downloading or playing. Ive never played the first 2 Diablo's as it's not my style. Its fun for a couple of hours though, think its pricey for what I played. The graphics are nice so is the ambient sound. Would I buy it? Not untill the price comes down.

I won't lie. This game has issues that shouldn't exist. It is overpriced for what you're getting, especially when comparing it to other titles in the genre. The graphics don't fit the game's theme. Voice acting is sub-par for the most part. The story holds little interest. The leveling makes Skyrim's leveling look complex, meaning it's really really linear. It takes up +10 GB on your HDDI won't lie. This game has issues that shouldn't exist. It is overpriced for what you're getting, especially when comparing it to other titles in the genre. The graphics don't fit the game's theme. Voice acting is sub-par for the most part. The story holds little interest. The leveling makes Skyrim's leveling look complex, meaning it's really really linear. It takes up +10 GB on your HDD or SSD. It REQUIRES constant internet connection to play. Not to mention the fact that it's prone to crash due to so many random errors. So why buy it? There's no reason to buy it. You're not missing any anything. I don't recommend this for anyone. But why did I give it a 6? Because it's still fun. Mindless fun, but fun all the same. The loot is still there and it's still addicting. I enjoyed my time with this game despite it's flaws and Blizzard's paranoia for using extreme measures to stop pirating. Would I buy it again? No. Do I wish I could get my money back? Absolutely.…Expand

As someone who enjoyed Diablo 2, LOD, and looks back at the Diablo series as something that had a big impact on gaming... I can't help but feel let down by Diablo 3. This is NOT the game we were waiting for, but it's still probably worth playing.

Getting the negatives out of the way:
Diablo 3 has suffered from technical problems out of the gate that persist even now. You're much lessAs someone who enjoyed Diablo 2, LOD, and looks back at the Diablo series as something that had a big impact on gaming... I can't help but feel let down by Diablo 3. This is NOT the game we were waiting for, but it's still probably worth playing.

Getting the negatives out of the way:Diablo 3 has suffered from technical problems out of the gate that persist even now. You're much less likely to suffer a major bug, or get disconnected from the game now, but the experience still is much more lag ridden then it should be, and using the auction house is a chore of frustration. Progression sometimes requires better equipment, and acquiring such equipment from the AH can sometimes take much longer than it should, as I deal with broken search filters, timeout errors, and other issues that plague the AH currently. The whining on these issues IS somewhat legitimate, and it affected my score of the game, although, you're not going to see me give it a 1, just because the AH gave me an error instead of my shiny new 2H weapon.

The story is, in a word, terrible. There were several points where I felt that it was too obvious what was going to happen yet, what a party member's secrets were, and all the characters are pretty shallowly developed and transparent. I've dealt with a lot of weak plots before, but this is one that's bad enough that it actually hurts the experience a bit. Without giving away spoilers, I was particularly frustrated with the character Leah, and her plot arc. The new hirelings are worthless. I'll just get out with it and say it. They're worthless. They suffer AI issues, such as not healing you when you're at 2 HP and the spell's off cooldown, charging into terrain, and other idiocy, but they're also just very weak in general. Is my enchantress attacking something? I can't tell, because even after giving her the best equipment I'm able, she does so much less damage than my player character, that it's difficult to tell if she's doing anything at all.- The lack of usefulness of the mercenaries is a failure, since they would have offered a good deal of flavor as a boon to your character.

There is no character customization (for looks).

Difficulty ranges from laughably easy to BS hard... You might be either falling asleep 2 shotting everything in sight without any fear of death whatsoever, or trying not to be 1 shot by nearly unkillable rare spawns. For example, at higher difficulties, you might face a mob that shields itself becoming immune to damage (until the shield drops), pins you in place from a distance, teleports to your location, and 1 shots you through all your defensive abilities. It'll kill you 10 times before facing a boss fight, where you never feel any sense of danger, and ease through it like it's nothing. It's very frustrating.

Items are another concern. Blizzard made progress between Diablo 2 LOD and WoW, adding in features like bind on equip, and bind on pickup, to help control item rarity. They're missing in Diablo 3, resulting in too many listings of "Legendary" items on the AH. Worse, they added random modifiers on the Legendaries, making them inferior to good rare items that got lucky rolls on their modifiers, and the vast majority of the rare items are trash. If a rare or even a legendary drops, there's no sense of excitement, as you realize that the likelihood of the item actually being useful is quite low. Since everything is soo sooo random, selling items can be difficult. I had a hard time determining if items for other classes were actually good or not, since rare modifiers range from really good to absolute trash.

For my neutral opinions:

The difficulty level between nightmare and hell is more acceptable. Rare packs with a few rough modifiers can make for fun fights. Blizzard has made progress with the disconnect problems, and the skill system, while taking a bit to get used to, offers flexibility with your character. Think of it as a watered down Guild Wars system.

It's easy to group up with a friend, and jump right to where they are in the action. If it wasn't for hacking issues, this would be a generally good feature, which unfortunately, should be turned off at the moment.

The game's art is slightly above average. Environments have this sort of dark watercolor look to them. Cut scenes are pretty, and there's decent production values all round, as far as standard things like voice acting. It's a decent looking game for sure, but environments can feel a little too copy pasted in places... making things feel dated sometimes. So overall, I give the graphics and production values a pass, even though I'm NOT impressed.

For my positives...The cut scenes are pretty? I'm actually struggling a little to think of what Diablo 3 does right... consistently... I got nothing.

It's AMAZING to me that the metascore from critics on this game was 89. Guess journalistic integrity is out the window.…Expand

The good: For normal and nightmare difficulties, it's a lot of fun blowing up mooks. No more stupid skill trees, just a set of skills with options you unlock as you level. The bad: Higher difficulties suck. You pretty much need the best gear from the AH or you will be one-shotted. Inferno is pretty much unplayable for a middle-core player. Lots ofThe game's alright with some flaws.

The good: For normal and nightmare difficulties, it's a lot of fun blowing up mooks. No more stupid skill trees, just a set of skills with options you unlock as you level. The bad: Higher difficulties suck. You pretty much need the best gear from the AH or you will be one-shotted. Inferno is pretty much unplayable for a middle-core player. Lots of boss combinations are really frustrating. The 30s cooldown on potions and long cooldown on defensive skills means every fight is pretty much do-or-die. You can't run away, you can't stock up on potions. Monsters will hit you even though on-screen you're far apart. If you die to a story-boss you need to start over. Lots of frustration/

Speaking of story, it's atrocious and hammy. Everyone carries the idiot ball, and most of the plot dialog is really poor. There's a lot of pointless GRIMDARK things too, like when you save a soldier and then he immediately explodes. Why? Because diablo is GRIM and MATURE, I guess.

The campaign is also really short, even though you replay it for each new game+ mode. Like, if you play at a moderate clip you'll probably finish normal mode in 10 hours or so. There aren't many side paths to explore, and the side-caves that are present tend to have minimal rewards.

So overall it's kind of fun, but it's also really frustrating and kind of hollow. They should rebalance the higher difficulties and add some sort of infinite dungeon. Otherwise, all that's left is farming for loot so you can farm for better loot.…Expand

I expected more from Diablo III. The gameplay is great and the overall quality of the game is top-notch but there are a few things about the game I find disapointing. First of all the skill tree does not allow for a great deal of customization and when leveling up we don't even get to choose which skill we want to unlock, it's already determined. Also we no longer get to spend attributeI expected more from Diablo III. The gameplay is great and the overall quality of the game is top-notch but there are a few things about the game I find disapointing. First of all the skill tree does not allow for a great deal of customization and when leveling up we don't even get to choose which skill we want to unlock, it's already determined. Also we no longer get to spend attribute points, they increase automatically as we level up. Personally if there is one mechanic I like about RPGs is deciding where I spend my points. The story is not really engaging and the campaign is quite short, I know that this game is designed to be played more than once to unlock every skills and runes but I think the campaign could have been a little longer for those of us who enjoy storytelling. I am not going to comment about connection issues as this is something that Blizzard will fix soon no doubt.Another thing that is a little strange to me is the damage system, the base damage of a weapon will increase your overall damage. I can understand this makes sense for the barbarian but for a wizard it seems bizarre to run around with a mace and a shield to increase spell damage and protection. In most RPGs caster are inefficient with melee weapons and shields and it makes sense like that.This is still a very good game... but not awesome. Blizzard could have innovated a little bit more... it's not like they didn't have time! I really wish they would start taking more risks when developing a game, they have to get out of their comfort zone. With the money they are making they have to push innovation and stop sticking to what simply works.…Expand

After years of waiting for this game with great anticipation... Blizzard has released an RPG nothing more it doesn't feel like Diablo. Its lacking the darkness and morbid feel to it. The story is dull but the videos are amazing. I've put about 120 hours of game play so far and every hour I add on to that further confirms that I don't like it. Inferno is very challenging next to impossibleAfter years of waiting for this game with great anticipation... Blizzard has released an RPG nothing more it doesn't feel like Diablo. Its lacking the darkness and morbid feel to it. The story is dull but the videos are amazing. I've put about 120 hours of game play so far and every hour I add on to that further confirms that I don't like it. Inferno is very challenging next to impossible if you haven't farmed/purchased(gold) the gear. And the real money auction house is coming soon so if you want to beat the game pay ... Blizzard will pocket a percentage of the trades and bots will farm day in and day out. I'm done with this game onto something else thank you for nothing Blizzard. 5/10 The rest of my disappointments are listed by other users so no need to repeat.…Expand

Good combat system, a fairly well-designed skill system that leaves you juggling constantly, and decent presentation. For me, that's where it stops. The storyline and voice acting are verging on spoof, the difficulty levels of late game are nowhere near challenging enough, and it's incredibly short. Once you've finished it two or three times there really is no need at all to ever play itGood combat system, a fairly well-designed skill system that leaves you juggling constantly, and decent presentation. For me, that's where it stops. The storyline and voice acting are verging on spoof, the difficulty levels of late game are nowhere near challenging enough, and it's incredibly short. Once you've finished it two or three times there really is no need at all to ever play it again. Overall a big letdown, in fact I'd hugely recommend Diablo 2 over this, regardless of technical advances.…Expand

Game is overally OK but it lacks the epicness of diablo II ,price is buffed due the games name. This game would bore a new player rather quickly so most likely only old diablo I and II players will stay on diablo III for long time.

I would give it a higher review, but I didn't want my review to be considered "positive." --- The bad: automatic attribute point distribution, all skills are given to you, slow-paced, too many cutscenes, too much dialogue you have to skip, not being able to use waypoints to travel to any act, lack of a lobby, lack of a join game list with custom names, level limit of 60, leveling feelingI would give it a higher review, but I didn't want my review to be considered "positive." --- The bad: automatic attribute point distribution, all skills are given to you, slow-paced, too many cutscenes, too much dialogue you have to skip, not being able to use waypoints to travel to any act, lack of a lobby, lack of a join game list with custom names, level limit of 60, leveling feeling to linear (no logarithmic progression), and boring itemization (few affixes, main goal is to stack main attribute + vitality + dps/defense, etc). --- The good: updated graphics, physics engine, a friends list integrated in the user interface, an overall well designed user interface, sharing items between characters is easy, fun combat (when you're not getting completely wrecked and 1-shotted), achievements, inspecting other characters, and user statistics. As you can see, the things that are good aren't nearly as important than the things that are bad. I have about 40 hours on this game, and they have been generally decent. There are periods where I won't play for weeks at a time though, so I guess that sort of tells you what replayablity this game has for me. Once I reached Hell and played Act 1 a bit, the game lost some of its entertainment value. There's no burning desire to go and play again like Diablo 2. I just don't know what to think of this game anymore. Hopefully they can fix it up with updates, but I doubt it.…Expand

Combat and character progression is fun and make you don't want to stop playing, but it's only until Hell. Inferno is a really repetitive play with objection of finding gears to be sold in Real Money Auction House. The fun is stop until Hell for me. Paragon level update doesn't work well with me, still boring. Crafting is very useless, you better spend money on auction house rather inCombat and character progression is fun and make you don't want to stop playing, but it's only until Hell. Inferno is a really repetitive play with objection of finding gears to be sold in Real Money Auction House. The fun is stop until Hell for me. Paragon level update doesn't work well with me, still boring. Crafting is very useless, you better spend money on auction house rather in crafting. PvP is not implemented yet. If you seek for hack and slash game, I recommend you to wait for Torchlight 2 or Path of Exile, or at least until Diablo 3 release the PvP if you still want. Do not be tricked with the Diablo franchise, Diablo 2 and 3 are different.…Expand

This was an ok game. The combat was good and the co-op online was fun. I also liked some of the art for the items. I enjoyed playing with my wizard until about halfway through NM. However, the negatives imo just avalanche the positives. The art style does not fit the series. It's too cartoony for the medieval, gothic theme of Diablo. I will say it is done well, but it does not fit. TheThis was an ok game. The combat was good and the co-op online was fun. I also liked some of the art for the items. I enjoyed playing with my wizard until about halfway through NM. However, the negatives imo just avalanche the positives. The art style does not fit the series. It's too cartoony for the medieval, gothic theme of Diablo. I will say it is done well, but it does not fit. The itemization is the biggest flaw in this game. A combination of your weapon and your main stat for your character, are how damage is calculated. All other affixes on items are meaningless unless you have your main stat + vitality on items. This is a major flaw, because there is less space for fun attributes when the spot is filled by your stats, that D2's stat system handles. The affixes are boring on items. While as in Diablo II you had interesting and fun items with attributes like cast firebolt on hit, or a 12% chance to blind enemy on hit, in Diablo III, you are stuck with +stat, +stat+, .001 chance to freeze. Blizzard has taken their need to control and balance characters way too far, forgetting the fact that the Diablo series has always was been about being overpowered and slaughtering enemies. That was the fun part. I'll put it this way- in Diablo II, I felt like a God slaying all demons in my path and pillaging villages for tremendous loot. In Diablo III I felt like a miner hacking away in a coal mine all day, with a pickaxe, hoping to eventually find GOLD. Also, I find that the skills system and the removing of the stat system really annoyed me, in this game. I like to be able to customize my character and carve my own path through a game. This game does not give me the freedom to do that, when I am using the same build as everyone else. My final complaint with this game is the Auction House (Gold or RM). This was the worst decision ever for an ARPG. When I could buy items easily in the auction house that are much better than anything I could ever have a chance to find (because of the extremely low drop rates), what reason do I have to actually enjoy hunting for loot? I don't have fun looting in D3 and that is a major issue with the game. I am extremely opposed to the idea of play to win. I feel like you should have to play the game to benefit from the rewards. Maybe I'm crazy lol. Anyway, I would not recommend this game, but I would recommend Torchlight 2. It is a fantasic game, that you will love if you enjoyed Diablo 2 and can look past graphics.…Expand

Good game, I actually like how its different from the other diablos. While it lacks in story and could use a bit beefier skill tree I still have hope for blizzard. I am looking forward to the expansion.

The game is very detached from what Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction set out to be, highly customizable and intimate while Diablo 3 deters from that. Blizzard supplements the phrase 'Steamlined' instead of 'simple', in which it is. Diablo 3 has been simplified from previous sequels. Your character skill points (dex, str, chr, etc)This score does not reflect the DRM or the account/lag issues.

The game is very detached from what Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction set out to be, highly customizable and intimate while Diablo 3 deters from that. Blizzard supplements the phrase 'Steamlined' instead of 'simple', in which it is. Diablo 3 has been simplified from previous sequels. Your character skill points (dex, str, chr, etc) are standardized and placed for you according to your class, similar to WoW where you have no choice over where your points should be allocated. Some people may actually like this change because to them the latter system may have been obtuse, complicated and confusing. Indeed which it was but if not only to separate the leaders from the followers. You could truly hone your character to formula 1 precision. They've replaced the system with runes instead of innate character stats. While the runes work, they are not as in-depth as precision stat stacking and because of this Diablo 3 will not have a life span of 10 years unlike it's predecessor. While D2LoD was very much an item game, Blizzard has redirected its focus and taken some scripts from it's biggest success which is World of Warcraft in which character skills and stats mean little in D3 as the Loot is now you're best chance of success for stats and skill is of little importance. Blizzard also claims Diablo 3 is run on a custom game engine which in truth is a blatant lie. The game is very clearly ported from Blizzards Warcraft engine, the texture resolution is quite poor, the games world geometry system is a positive match to World of Warcraft. They chose not to use a different art design studio and thus the game looks like an eerily match to World of Warcraft's art design. Overall the graphics are very poor especially for a game that is released in 2012 where the expectations are quite high. Another displaced World of Warcraft correlation that does not necessarily suit the Diablo franchise is the implementation of Arenas. The premise, principle and rewards are tit-for-tat straight out of World Of Warcraft. Special Titles, Special Trophies, Awards, Arbitrary Arena Points used to purchase Armors and Weapons. Blizzard didn't bother innovating on the front, they just literally ripped the system from their Mega-Successor. There is no mention of open world PVP whatsoever, otherwise known as 'Duels' in D2LoD that made it wildly successful and addictive, they've dropped it entirely in favor the lacking arena system in which they repeated the exact same behaviour in World of Warcraft. Blizzard has not given a sober coherent statement as to why the Singleplayer mode was omitted stating issues with piracy and issues with the core-gameplay in which case is classic Blizzard. Remember when Starcraft 2 couldn't have LAN play because it was too advanced and too hard to incorporate then? Which brings me to my next point;

If things are so hard to implement then what makes Blizzard believe they will be able to control a cash based auction house and that people will not circumvent the system?

I have a lot of issues with the game, mostly the shallow over-simplified character system, shallow gameplay, shallow story (which is just awful in modern times) and art direction/style. It would have done Blizzard well to keep the original Diablo 2 LOD developers but 10 years ago after their acclaimed success Blizzard shut down that studio and let the creators go. Which in my opinion was a disaster.

Diablo 3 may be a great financial success but in its current form, it is an unworthy successor to the Diablo franchise and Blizzard have come full circle onto themselves. They started losing it with World of Warcraft and now they've lost it with Diablo 3. If you enjoy an over-simplified, shallow character system, bad inventory system and non-existent story compared to Diablo 2 LoD then this game maybe for you. However if you enjoyed the depth of Diablo 2 LoD you will be unfortunately disappointed with Diablo 3.…Expand

First it didn't want to install kept coming up with "The Fire from the sky still falls" error but found on forums that I wasn't the only one. The solution to this error is here https://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5149179449?page=5Then after playing for one hour the US server just turned off so I couldn't play anymore so I have to change server to the EURO. Then I could finaly playFirst it didn't want to install kept coming up with "The Fire from the sky still falls" error but found on forums that I wasn't the only one. The solution to this error is here https://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5149179449?page=5Then after playing for one hour the US server just turned off so I couldn't play anymore so I have to change server to the EURO. Then I could finaly play after 6 hours stuffing around. Wow Blizzard get your **** out you've had many years to work on this. Not a good look.…Expand

Homogenized. Uncreative. Uninspired. This is Diablo 3. The terribly unoriginal and boring story and dialog are the first things you notice, though the voice acting is at least good and helps make much of it passable. Also, you always have to play online. This sets the scene for several different scenarios where you might not actually be able to even play the game, even if just toHomogenized. Uncreative. Uninspired. This is Diablo 3. The terribly unoriginal and boring story and dialog are the first things you notice, though the voice acting is at least good and helps make much of it passable. Also, you always have to play online. This sets the scene for several different scenarios where you might not actually be able to even play the game, even if just to tinker around with character generation or play through the whole game once-through in some remote place.

The skills and statistics on the items have been homogenized and dumbed down, big time, ostensibly to make the game more appealing to the masses. And the skills aren't very exiting either. You get all exited to get a new ability, only to find out it doesn't work well at all with the other abilities you have, or is barely different from the ability you were already using, and thus superfluous. To be fair Diablo 2 had a few skills like this as well, but at least you had a feeling of control as you stepped past them to fill the other more useful abilities with more points, or experimented with different 'builds'. You'll find not much for builds in this game --- the metagame surrounding Diablo 3 is pretty much non-existent.

The dungeons are also far too long, and you can go for a good 20-30 seconds down a hallway without encountering a single monster. Or sometimes you encounter like... 4 monsters, kill them in 1 second if you're a melee class, or 10 seconds if you're a sorcerer or demon hunter, and move on. No, you don't want to be a ranged class right now in this game...

On the plus side, yeah, it can be fun to blow up lots of baddies. It's just too bad there's not much statistical depth or story behind you doing it. It could have been alot better.…Expand

Its a solid game but its unfortunately always going to be compared to its superior predecessor. Pros* The graphics are an upgrade from D2 but lets be honest, they'd have to be since D2 is more than 12 years old at this point. The graphics are nice but not mind blowing. I do however like the destructible environment. * Like other Diablo games the game is addictive. At least until youIts a solid game but its unfortunately always going to be compared to its superior predecessor. Pros* The graphics are an upgrade from D2 but lets be honest, they'd have to be since D2 is more than 12 years old at this point. The graphics are nice but not mind blowing. I do however like the destructible environment. * Like other Diablo games the game is addictive. At least until you reach Hell or Inferno (depending on your ability) where the game kind of loses it's appeal. Trash mobs that are more powerful than Diablo become somewhat common as well as being one shot by most of them. It eventually becomes much easier to just buy gear upgrades which again kills and replay value. Cons*Despite Blizzard's mantra "when it's ready" and its 10 year development cycle this game wasn't ready when it was released. Blizzard hyped release parties but because of server problems (even when playing solo) most people couldn't even log into the game for the first few days. Some people say that this should be expected but I call it unacceptable. If a game is released then that means that it has Blizzard stamp of approval. * There's absolutely no need to require a constant internet connection to play this game in single player mode. This means that at some point in the future, even if it's 20 years from now people who purchased this game and have the CD won't be able to play it any more. * The auction house ruins a game that pretty much entirely based on gear. * The idea to not make any items BoP or BoE blows my mind. This means that every item that ever drops in the game for every player will always exist in the economy unless someone purposely vendors or salvages it. Think about that. Every item ever dropped. * The talent trees are a step backwards from that of D2. * The replay value is a lot less than that of D2.…Expand

Overall if you never played D1 or D2 you'll likely find this game is more of an 8 or 9. However if you are like me and literally grew up playing the first two games and have been a life long fan of this franchise you will be absolutely irate at how watered down and simplified this new installment is, likely giving it a 0 or 1 (unless you are not many hours into the game and are stillOverall if you never played D1 or D2 you'll likely find this game is more of an 8 or 9. However if you are like me and literally grew up playing the first two games and have been a life long fan of this franchise you will be absolutely irate at how watered down and simplified this new installment is, likely giving it a 0 or 1 (unless you are not many hours into the game and are still living in denial). Lets be honest, this game is the successor to two of the greatest games in the history of PC gaming. It has some monstrously huge shoes to fill and it falls completely short of even remotely comparing to its predecessors in terms of quality and replay value. No more manual designation of character stats every level, no more skill trees full of synergies and possibilities, no more mountain of exciting gem damage type/rune word combinations to experiment with. There is no longer a real sense of choice in the game. You unlock every skill as you level (only a handful of which you will ever want to use) and you can change everything about your character at the drop of the hat, thus decisions carry no weight and lack any real sense of permanence. Because of the new skill setup you will only ever make one character of any given class and he will be virtually identical to every other character of that class out there. There is absolutely no point to making a second barbarian (saving blizzard plenty of money on server storage costs no doubt). You dont take any true pride in your build because it is not a unique and clever creation like the ones you made in D2. Finally, the auction house, short acts, and horrible drop rates suck any remaining fun out the slaughter. To all the individuals out there who are upset at seeing all these low scores, I'm sorry if this or other simliar reviews get under your skin, because I know I would be pissed if people where trashing a game I loved too. Just please keep in mind alot of these low scores are coming from people approaching the game from a very different perspective (borderline crackhead-obsessed diablo fanatic). Everyone who paid for this game is entitled to voice their opinion about it, be that positive or negative.…Expand

This should have been avoidable. Blizzard already runs the largest MMO on the planet, WoW. They also launched StarCraft II which required gamers to be connected to play Single Player and started with multiplayer from day one. That launch did notServer and Lag issues. DRM > gaming experience. Missing key components standard in most RPGs today. Addressing just the server bugs and lag...

This should have been avoidable. Blizzard already runs the largest MMO on the planet, WoW. They also launched StarCraft II which required gamers to be connected to play Single Player and started with multiplayer from day one. That launch did not turn into the catastrophe Diablo III's did.

Blizzard's games have been intertwined with servers since the original Diablo and the launch of Battle.net. They're pretty much experts in this department by now.

Then there's the stress test and the pre-sales data. Either Blizzard rushed the launch of an already delayed game without the proper infrastructure in place, or the company made a bottom line call to just ignore the numbers. Either way, they totally dropped the ball. They apologized, but did so in a less than sincere way, with some jokes, and stating they thought they overshot the server stress-load estimate.

Now, the DRM.

One commenter compared buying a video game to buying a car, while another said you cannot compare the two.

What makes this different than a car? I get to test-drive a car. And not just a piece of the car, the whole car. I can take it on the freeway, try out the AC, play with the gadgets, everything. Then, I can decide whether or not to buy it. If I do buy it and decide within so many days I don't like it, I usually can return it or exchange it, especially if it's brand new.

Diablo III on the other hand... I cannot really test play the game before launch. Even if I play the first couple of hours, I will be disappointed. I'll barely be able to touch the tip of crafting available, the battles will seem very mundane and repetitive, the story not all that compelling, the crypt and graveyard graphics a bit dull.

So, I buy the game. If I don't like it, I cannot return it. I cannot exchange it. $60 down the drain. I cannot even sell the game to someone else.

Many positive player reviews dismiss the negative ratings as simply disgruntled players who could not jump right into the game on midnight on launch day. But if you actually read those reviews, you'll find them littered with other complaintsâ…Expand

To start, I didn't run into any of the initial access problems as I got my copy a couple days late. Yes, the always on DRM is annoying and troublesome. But beyond these industry problems, this game disappoints. Blizzard plays it much too safe and generic. Graphics are outdated. There is little to no character customization. Plot is cookie-cutter boring, if not stupid, and is the sameTo start, I didn't run into any of the initial access problems as I got my copy a couple days late. Yes, the always on DRM is annoying and troublesome. But beyond these industry problems, this game disappoints. Blizzard plays it much too safe and generic. Graphics are outdated. There is little to no character customization. Plot is cookie-cutter boring, if not stupid, and is the same regardless of the class chosen (thus making replay or even experimenting with different classes) less of a draw for me. Voice acting is staid. The RPG elements, as others have pointed out, esp. the skill trees, are watered down, restrictive and mostly uninteresting. Character and plot progression are narrow and over-directed. Dungeons and environments are used and re-used ad nauseum (did they not learn from DA2?). Despite all these shortcomings I continue to play it; continue to click, click, click away, going on 16 hours now. The combat, power animations and baddie destruction is slick and fully satisfying, despite it all coming down to mindless button mashing. I'm compelled by some powerful Pavlovian impulse that Blizzard has tapped into (and that I was somehow immune to with WoW and Starcraft). So I've resigned myself to finishing the story and then perhaps playing some co-op, although I suspect the screen will be a complete mess of explode-y, obscuring animations when I do. Can't wait for Torchlight 2!…Expand

Simple. Constant online DRM. Storyline is pretty short; wont take off too much for that since its meant to be played again and again on higher and higher difficulties. Skills and attributes are waayy over simplified... pretty much cookie cutter.

This is a backwards move in game design. I've played the game for ~40 hours right now, and own pretty much every Blizzard game to come out in the last 15 years besides Wow. That said, MYRIAD features that existed 12 years ago in D2 were removed, some of which are the fundamental features that defined the franchise as unique and innovative (and it sure as hell wasn't the big bad guy). ThisThis is a backwards move in game design. I've played the game for ~40 hours right now, and own pretty much every Blizzard game to come out in the last 15 years besides Wow. That said, MYRIAD features that existed 12 years ago in D2 were removed, some of which are the fundamental features that defined the franchise as unique and innovative (and it sure as hell wasn't the big bad guy). This is just a list of features that have been REMOVED that I can think of off the top of my head, not even counting the utter failure of most of the new features:

No random levels. No off-line mode, which can lead to INFURIATING gameplay, even in single player (when the servers are up at all). No runes or runewords. No jewels. Fewer gem types. Can't specialize your character's skills (which results in every character being EXACTLY the same minus equipment). Can't add sockets to an existing item (though to be fair this didn't come until the expansion, but even that was more than 10 years ago). There is NO USE WHATSOEVER for normal items any more after lvl 10, if so, why do they even drop at all and clutter up my user experience?

There are a few things they did right, the random Events being the big one, and even if they're largely worthless in gameplay, I like the account-wide leveling system for the stash/jeweler/smith.

However, I must make special mention of the graphics as a "new feature" that is utterly unacceptable. These are not "stylized", they're utter **** and a cop-out, and everyone at Blizzard who worked on them should be ashamed. Also, the ridiculous and embarrassing character design for monsters like The Butcher where he comes screaming in as this hideous giant bloated monster is like something a 13 year-old would have designed.

Final verdict: Blizzard wants to kill this game type of action adventure rpg so they can focus on their favorites Starcraft and Wow, and they're doing it very deliberately. Is it awful? No, but even if the game is very tactile and has a good presence, that impression wears off quickly and the user is left wondering where any actual depth of game play is supposed to be found.

Too easy (the flow is terrible, it results in a very boring experience). A backwards step in the skill system (an illusion of choice, no stake in your advancement, nothing particularly good to look forward to). The UI is average (the skill screen(s) are hopeless). The graphics are far from what you'd expect today (they're mass audience MMO quality, i.e. lowest common denominator). RealToo easy (the flow is terrible, it results in a very boring experience). A backwards step in the skill system (an illusion of choice, no stake in your advancement, nothing particularly good to look forward to). The UI is average (the skill screen(s) are hopeless). The graphics are far from what you'd expect today (they're mass audience MMO quality, i.e. lowest common denominator). Real money trade affects all players whether they use it or not (why work hard when the guy next to you had the money to spend on something much better than your equipment, for no time spent?). I clock 200-360ms ping .. in singleplayer. Loot is individual among coop players (this is a bad thing - you no longer have a sense of shared achievement, you have less connection to those you're playing with). All the goddamn fog (why?!)

Conclusion: Diablo 3 will never reach anywhere near the cult status of Diablo 2. You're best off going back to that golden classic or waiting for Torchlight 2.…Expand

Diablo 3 is a polished but ultimately empty experience, I think the main question here is what the hell (pardon the pun) Blizzard spent the last 5 years doing, because it certainly wasn't producing any form of innovation. Much like Starcraft 2 D3 is simply a lazy rehash of it's predecessor. Add to that the always on DRM via Battlenet and all in all D3 is a decidedly mediocre experience.Diablo 3 is a polished but ultimately empty experience, I think the main question here is what the hell (pardon the pun) Blizzard spent the last 5 years doing, because it certainly wasn't producing any form of innovation. Much like Starcraft 2 D3 is simply a lazy rehash of it's predecessor. Add to that the always on DRM via Battlenet and all in all D3 is a decidedly mediocre experience.

...oh, and it has one of the worst plot 'twists' I've seen in a long while.…Expand

I really liked the art and story. That said, it doesn't advance the genre and the single player online-only DRM is a huge insult to fans. It just looks like a big corporate prank on the players who've stood by Blizzard for years (and with good reason). It's all about the gameplay. No gameplay = no love. Aim for a good game Bliizard, not just the money and DRM.

I have to admit I've never played Diablo 1 or 2. Gave this a try because of all the hype and anticipation. Acquiring gear is certainly addictive, and the game isn't bad, but I just can't see why it merits so much hype, and such a hefty price. I picked up Torchlight when it came out, and this is almost the same game. And yes, I know Torchlight was a Diablo clone, but the difference isI have to admit I've never played Diablo 1 or 2. Gave this a try because of all the hype and anticipation. Acquiring gear is certainly addictive, and the game isn't bad, but I just can't see why it merits so much hype, and such a hefty price. I picked up Torchlight when it came out, and this is almost the same game. And yes, I know Torchlight was a Diablo clone, but the difference is that Torchlight came out over 2 years ago, and cost a third of what Diablo 3 costs. And in some ways, Torchlight is a better game. Items seem to have a more profound effect, sound, music, and graphics have more character, and you have choices when you level up. The lack of persistent choices, and limitations on the number of active abilities, is particularly bewildering. Admitted, I'm still at a pretty early level, but it doesn't seem like these aspects will improve very much.

As for the cash store, it doesn't really bother me. After all, it's largely a single player game, so if someone wants to spend money on gear, it's no skin off my back. In fact, the idea of being able to sell stuff for real money is alluring. However, Blizzard keeps comparing the anticipated market to WoW, and I have trouble imagining a large market for items in a non-MMO. Acquiring top-level gear in an MMO is difficult, and by design, the game never ends so there is always a market. I don't foresee Diablo III being so infinitely playable, nor your achievements and gear being so visible and important to other players, so why would anyone spend money on it?…Expand

While this may be the spiritual successor to Diablo II is is not as good. I loved DII but i can only say that i like DIII. The graphics are good, sound is great but gameplay and story left me a little flat. Is it a good game? Yes. Is it great? No. Diablo II was GREAT game....Diablo III is merely good. Oh, and don't get me started on the screwed up way that you must be online for singleWhile this may be the spiritual successor to Diablo II is is not as good. I loved DII but i can only say that i like DIII. The graphics are good, sound is great but gameplay and story left me a little flat. Is it a good game? Yes. Is it great? No. Diablo II was GREAT game....Diablo III is merely good. Oh, and don't get me started on the screwed up way that you must be online for single player. Thats just a horrid idea, start to finish. Again..good...not great. Oh, and I should say that I have played all three Diablo games as soon as they came out. Love the series...but again, this one falls just a bit short.…Collapse

My one major complaint is that the game never feels very difficult, especially on Normal. There are frustrating moments, hordes of baddies, and increasing difficulty levels, but the same feeling of utter defeat never really happens as it did in the past.

For all the game's missteps, though, you certainly can't accuse Blizzard of phoning it in - if anything, the game suffers from the tendency to try a little to hard at times to evolve the design. [Aug 2012, p.61]